About the data
Definitions
Data sources

About the data

The long-term trends shown in this table provide a view of the relative rates of change of key social and economic indicators over the past 31 years. Like all averages, they reflect the general tendency but may disguise considerable year-to-year variation, especially in economic indicators. In viewing these growth rates, it may be helpful to keep in mind that a quantity growing at 2.3 percent a year will double in 30 years, while a quantity growing at 7 percent a year will double in 10 years.

All the indicators shown here appear elsewhere in the World Development Indicators. For more information about them, see About the data for tables 1.1 (gross national product and GNP per capita), 2.1 (population), 2.3 (labor force), 4.1 (value added by industrial origin), 4.8 (exports of goods and services), and 4.9 (private consumption).

Definitions

• Average annual growth rates of gross national product, value added, private consumption, gross domestic fixed investment, and exports of goods and services are calculated from data in 1987 constant prices using the least-squares method. See Statistical methods for more information on the calculation of growth rates. • Gross national product is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any taxes (less subsidies) that are not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (employee compensation and property income) from nonresident sources. Growth is calculated from constant price GNP in national currency units. • GNP per capita is gross national product divided by midyear population. • Average annual growth of total population and labor force is calculated using the exponential endpoint method. • Labor force comprises all people who meet the International Labour Organization’s definition of the economically active population. • Value added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources. The industrial origin of value added is determined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 2. • Agriculture is the value added of ISIC major divisions 1–5. • Industry is the value added of ISIC division 10–15. • Services is the value added in ISIC divisions 15–37. • Private consumption is the market value of all goods and services, including durable products, purchased or received as income in kind by households and nonprofit institutions. It excludes purchases of dwellings but includes imputed rent for owner-occupied dwellings. • Exports of goods and services is the value of all goods and market services provided to the rest of the world.

Data sources

The indicators here and throughout the rest of the book have been compiled by World Bank staff from primary and secondary sources. More information about the indicators and their sources can be found in the About the data, Definitions, and Data sources entries that accompany each table in subsequent sections.

THE WORLD BANK METHODOLOGY:

----- On External Debt

                Definitions

                Debt indicators

----- On WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS

Size of the economy

Quality of life

Development progress

Trends in long-term development

Long-term structural change

Key indicators for other economies

Population

Land use and deforestation

Growth of output

Credit, investment and expenditures

Integration with the global economy

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