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Event: 50 Years of Measuring World Economies – Wednesday May 23, 2018 at 4pm EST

Nada Hamadeh's picture
Join us live online or in-person on Wednesday at 4pm for "50 Years of Measuring World Economies" event held at the World Bank James D. Wolfensohn Atrium in Washington, DC.
 
The International Comparison Program (ICP) – the world’s largest global data initiative led by the World Bank under the auspices of the United Nations Statistical Commission – is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Since the initiation of the ICP as a modest research project at the University of Pennsylvania by Irving Kravis, Alan Heston and Robert Summers in 1968, the Program has grown to cover about 200 countries and 20 global, regional and sub-regional agencies.
 

To commemorate this milestone, World Bank Group Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva, 2015 Nobel Laureate in economics Sir Angus Deaton, and Georgetown University Provost Robert M. Groves will come together at an event to discuss the challenges and opportunities for investing in evidence for sustainable development. In addition, Lawrence H. Summers, the 71st Secretary of the US Treasury and son of ICP co-founder Robert Summers, will share a recorded tribute. A video produced by the World Bank for the occasion will showcase the history and impact of the ICP.

Interested in using purchasing power parity data? The International Comparison Program’s new site has you covered

Nada Hamadeh's picture

The International Comparison Program (ICP) is pleased to announce its new website.

The ICP estimates purchasing power parities, or PPPs, for use as currency converters to compare the size and price levels of economies around the world.  The new website is a rich repository of over 1,100 files and includes: an overview of the program and its history, governance structure, results and their uses, methodology and research agenda. The site also includes ICP reports, guides, videos, newsletters, and links to news articles, blogs and academic and research papers using ICP data and results.


Can you visualize the structure of the world economy and population in one chart?

Morgan Brannon's picture
Also available in: Français | Español | العربية
Following the International Comparison Program (ICP) 2011 final report release from last October, there was particular interest in the charts presenting the results. To give a deeper explanation of one of the most popular charts, we’ve recently produced this video:
 
Real GDP Per Capita and Shares of Global Population, ICP 2011
Source:  ICP, http://icp.worldbank.org/

Full set of International Comparison Program 2011 results now available

Nada Hamadeh's picture

The big splash from the April 2014 summary release provided users with a glimpse of the International Comparison Program's (ICP) 2011 results and findings, as revealed in Haishan Fu's blog post and related press release.  Users can now explore the full set of the 2011 ICP results released in June 2014.

These results provide data on purchasing power parities (PPPs) of currencies, expenditure shares of gross domestic product (GDP), total and per capita expenditures in United States dollars (USD) both in exchange rate terms and PPP terms, and price level indices. This dataset covers 26 expenditures categories for goods and services for 199 participating economies from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the Caribbean, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Latin America, Eurostat-OECD, Western Asia, singleton economies, and the Pacific Islands. Also included are estimated results for non-participating economies.

Figure 1 below presents a multidimensional comparison of per capita GDP - scaled to the relative size of each economy - against its price level index (PLI) with the world equal to 100. The PLI, the ratio of a PPP to a corresponding exchange rate, is used to compare price levels between economies.

ICP 2011: 7 Million Prices, 199 Economies, 8 Regions, and 15 Partners

Haishan Fu's picture
Also available in: 中文

On behalf of the International Comparison Program (ICP) Executive Board and the World Bank, I’d like to thank everyone who’s contributed to the success of the 2011 round. The results are now available in report form, as a data download, and through interactive applications.
 
The largest global statistical program 
The ICP is hosted by the World Bank, and estimates purchasing power parities, or PPPs, for use as currency converters to compare the size and price levels of economies around the world. In terms of geographic scope, implementation time frame and institutional partnerships, many people consider it to be the largest ever global statistical initiative. It’s conducted under the authority of the United Nations Statistical Commission, and the 2011 ICP round collected over 7 million prices from 199 economies in eight regions, with the help of 15 regional and international partners. It’s the most extensive effort to measure PPPs ever undertaken.

World Bank to publish Purchasing Power Parities in March 2014

Grant Cameron's picture
In June 2013 we announced the upcoming release of the results from the 2011 round of the International Comparison Program (ICP). The results will include ICP 2011 benchmark PPPs and related volume measures for 199 participating countries/economies.

World Bank to publish Purchasing Power Parities in December 2013

Frederic A. Vogel's picture

Given the complex nature of the ICP and the fact that it has become the largest worldwide statistical operation, the program decided that the December release will be postponed until March 2014, in an effort to produce the utmost quality results. Read more ...

The preliminary results from the 2011 round of the International Comparison Program (ICP) will be released in December 2013 followed by a more in-depth report in March 2014. The first release will provide Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs), price level indexes, and real expenditures for gross domestic product (GDP) and major aggregates for over 190 countries. Major economic indicators on the global economy produced by the World Bank are based on PPPs which are used to provide internationally comparable price and volume measures for GDP and its expenditure components. The same PPPs are used to determine comparable poverty levels across countries based on the $1.25 per day poverty line.