Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

PPP GDP Per Capita for Countries of the World: A Comparison of the New ICP Results with World Bank Data

  • Published:
Social Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Benchmark estimates of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) GDP per capita for the year 2011 recently released by the International Comparison Program (ICP) are compared with the corresponding estimates generated by the World Bank from the ICP benchmark years and countries. Large differences are noted between the two sets for many countries. Of the 163 countries for which numbers from both sources are available, the difference is at least $2000 or 25 % in 73 or about 45 % of the cases, and the differences are huge for a sizable proportion of the countries. The numerous users of World Bank data are urged to exercise caution in drawing strong conclusions in cross-country studies in which PPP GDP per capita is often a core variable. As an additional point, while the ICP 2005 was observed to have revealed the world to be more unequal than previously thought, the current ICP might be stated as doing the opposite.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The last ICP round was for the year 2005.

  2. Penn World Table (PWT) also generates estimates of PPP GDP and several other aggregates.

  3. World Bank (2013b) explains the various issues underlying the extrapolations.

  4. In a preliminary report, Ram (2015) did similar comparisons for the tiny group of seven South Asian countries.

  5. Additional details are available from the author.

  6. For example, World Bank (2015, p. 29) has stated that for most economies, GNI per capita in PPP dollars and the underlying PPP rates are based on the 2011 ICP benchmark results. Also, it is observed that for countries like Qatar and Kuwait, where ICP and World Bank numbers differed greatly, the World Bank estimates now seem fairly similar to the ICP numbers.

  7. In a somewhat different context, Ram and Ural (2014) did a comparison of PPP GDP per capita for 2005 reported in Penn World Table and World Development Indicators.

  8. The differences across the three groups may be as important as across World Bank and ICP PPP GDP per capita. However, although low correlation between NHDI and GDP (GNI) per capita in developed countries is to be expected, it is beyond the scope of this paper to provide a more complete discussion of differences across the country groups.

  9. As for Table 4, the large differences across the three groups should be of interest, but it is beyond the scope of this study to consider these.

References

  • Bourguignon, F. (1979). Decomposable inequality measures. Econometrica, 47, 901–920.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deaton, A. S. (2013). Introduction: Reshaping the world. In: Measuring the real size of the world economy. Washington, DC: World Bank.

  • Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R., & Sachs, J. (Eds.). (2013). World happiness report 2013. New York: UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ram, R. (2009). International income distribution: Comparing new ICP and the existing data. International Journal of Social Economics, 36, 652–658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ram, R. (2015). PPP income per capita in South Asian countries: A comparison of ICP and World Bank data. Empirical Economics Letters, 14, 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ram, R., & Ural, S. (2014). Comparison of GDP per capita data in Penn world table and World Development Indicators. Social Indicators Research, 116, 639–646.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia. (2014). The International Comparison Program in a nutshell. Available at http://escwa.un.org. Accessed on 20 Feb 2015.

  • United Nations Development Program. (2011). Human development report 2011. New York.

  • United Nations Development Program. (2013). Data web site http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/tables/. Accessed on 23 May 2013.

  • World Bank. (2008). Global purchasing power parities and real expenditures: 2005 International comparison program. Washington, DC.

  • World Bank. (2013a). World development indicators 2013. Washington, DC.

  • World Bank. (2013b). Measuring the real size of the world economy: The framework, methodology, and results of the International Comparison Program-ICP. Washington, DC.

  • World Bank. (2014a). Purchasing power parities and real expenditures of world economies: Summary of results and findings of the 2011 International Comparison Program. Washington, DC.

  • World Bank. (2014b). Purchasing power parities and the real size of world economies: A comprehensive report of the 2011 International Comparison Program. Washington, DC.

  • World Bank. (2015). World development indicators 2015. Washington, DC.

Download references

Acknowledgments

Useful comments from an anonymous referee are gratefully acknowledged. The usual disclaimer applies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Economics Department, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, 61790-4200, USA

    Rati Ram

Authors
  1. Rati Ram
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rati Ram.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ram, R. PPP GDP Per Capita for Countries of the World: A Comparison of the New ICP Results with World Bank Data. Soc Indic Res 127, 1057–1066 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1009-3

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1009-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation