Documentation
Gross domestic product (GDP) is presented in real 2005 dollars,
while exchange rates are expressed in foreign currency per U.S.
dollar.
Data Sources and Derivations
The GDP series starts with the 2005 U.S. dollar GDP series
derived from the latest edition of the World Bank's World
Development Indicatorsand is filled in using other data sources
such as Oxford Economic Forecasting, Global Insight, Project Link,
and the International Monetary Fund's International Financial
Statistics. Conversion to dollars is based on a fixed 2005
exchange rate. The population series is from the Census Bureau International Population
Database. The historical exchange rate series is taken from the
ERS Agricultural Exchange Rate Data Set. GDP shares are derived by
dividing individual country/region GDP by world GDP. Dividing GDP
by population yields per capita income. The GDP deflators and
consumer price indexes start with the World BankWorld Development
Indicators and are supplemented with other data sources as with
GDP. Further gaps in all of the data series are filled in by a
process of interpolation, extrapolation, or back estimation.
Data Updates
The data are annual series with historical data from 1969-2008
and projections for 2009-20. Updates for the Baseline are done once
a year in December. The historical data are revised semi-annually
to reflect revisions as they become available.
For those who want the macroeconomic projections for the final
Baseline for any recent year or for more detailed data on the
countries in the regional aggregations, contact Mathew Shane
directly (mshane@ers.usda.gov,
202-694-5282).