Economy > Economic growth > Evolution of GDP > Real GDP growth: Countries Compared

DEFINITION: In order to calculate the growth rate of GDP free of the direct effects of inflation, data at fixed, or constant, prices should be used. Price relativities change over time, and the 1993 System of National Accounts recommends that the fixed prices used should be representative of the periods for which the growth rates are calculated, which means that new fixed prices should be introduced frequently, typically every year. The growth rates of GDP between successive periods are linked together to form chain volume indices. All OECD countries derive their "volume" estimates in this way, except for Korea, and Mexico.. These two like many non-OECD countries, only revise their fixed weights every five or ten years. Such practices tend to lead to biased growth rates, usually upward.

The growth rates for OECD total are averages of the growth rates of individual countries weighted by the relative size of each country’s GDP in US dollars. Conversion to US dollars is done using purchasing power parities so that each country is weighted by the relative size of its real GDP.