| As of October 2025, the World Economic Outlook database and supporting documents will be accessible through the IMF Data portal. |
The IMF Press Center is a password-protected site for working journalists.
| As of October 2025, the World Economic Outlook database and supporting documents will be accessible through the IMF Data portal. |
The World Economic Outlook (WEO) database is created during each semiannual WEO exercise; these exercises begin in January and June of each year and culminate in the publication of the World Economic Outlook in April and September, respectively. Selected series from the publication are released on this website on the day of the WEO press conference.
The WEO exercise is coordinated by the World Economic Studies Division in the Research Department. The projections and analyses contained in the World Economic Outlook are an integral element of the IMF's ongoing surveillance of economic developments and policies in its member countries and of the global economic system. The survey of prospects and policies is the product of a comprehensive interdepartmental review of world economic developments, which draws primarily on information gathered by the IMF through its consultations with member countries.
WEO projections are prepared by the IMF's country economists on the basis of internationally consistent assumptions about world economic activity, exchange rates, and conditions in international financial and commodity markets. Advanced economies and the largest developing countries, which account for 90 percent of world output provide a full set of projections for each WEO exercise. Most smaller countries provide updates of key variables for each WEO exercise and a full set of projections at the time of the IMF's regular Article IV consultations with member countries, unless world developments necessitate more frequent updates.
The European Union added 10 new member nations on May 1, 2004, enlarging the group to a total of 25 countries. The new members are Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovak Republic, and Slovenia.
No changes were introduced.
Growth and inflation projections for Serbia and Montenegro are included.
Growth and inflation projections are included for all countries through 2003.
Middle East, Malta, and Turkey is replaced by the title “Middle East and Turkey.” The country composition remains the same.
No changes were introduced.
No changes were introduced.
This site provides the most frequently requested information from the WEO database consistent with the data published in the World Economic Outlook.
Please note:
Gross Domestic Product, Constant Prices (national currency and annual percent change)
Real GDP is expressed in billions of national currency units; the base year is country-specific. Annual percentages of constant price GDP are year-on-year changes.
Please note:
Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices (national currency)
GDP is expressed in billions of national currency units.
Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices (U.S. dollars)
Values are based upon GDP in national currency and the exchange rate projections provided by country economists for the group of other emerging market and developing countries. Exchanges rates for advanced economies are established in the WEO assumptions for each WEO exercise.
Per Capita Gross Domestic Product, Constant Prices (national currency per person)
GDP is expressed in constant national currency per person. Data are derived by dividing constant price GDP by total population.
Please note:
Per Capita Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices (national currency per person)
GDP is expressed in current national currency per person. Data are derived by dividing current price GDP by total population.
Per Capita Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices (U.S. dollars per person)
GDP is expressed in current U.S. dollars per person. Data are derived by first converting GDP in national currency to U.S. dollars and then dividing it by total population.
GDP Deflator (index and annual percent change)
The GDP deflator is derived by dividing current price GDP by constant price GDP and is considered to be an alternate measure of inflation.
Please note:
Output Gap (ratio to potential GDP)
Output gaps for advanced economies are calculated as actual GDP less potential GDP as a percent of potential GDP. Estimates of output gaps are subject to a significant margin of uncertainty. For a discussion of approaches to calculating potential output, see Paula R. De Masi, "IMF Estimates of Potential Output: Theory and Practice," in Staff Studies for the World Economic Outlook (Washington: IMF, December 1997), pp. 40-46.
Please note:
Savings and Investment (percent of GDP)
Data are based on individual countries' national accounts statistics. For many countries, the estimates of national saving are built up from national accounts data on gross domestic investment and from balance of payments-based data on net foreign investment.
Please note:
GDP Based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) Valuation of Country GDP (U.S. dollars, shares of world total, per capita, and implied exchange rates)
These data form the basis for the country weights used to generate the World Economic Outlook country group composites for the domestic economy.
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Inflation (consumer prices; index and annual percent change)
Data for inflation are averages for the year, not end-of-period data. The index is based on 2000=100.
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Unemployment Rate (percent)
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General Government Fiscal Balances (national currency and ratio to GDP)
Data are on a national income accounts basis. Please refer to Box A1 in the World Economic Outlook for a summary of the policy assumptions underlying the projections.
Please note:
General Government Structural Balances (national currency and ratio to potential GDP)
Data are on a national income accounts basis. The structural budget position is defined as the actual budget deficit (or surplus) less the effects of cyclical deviations of output from potential output. Because of the margin of uncertainty that attaches to estimates of cyclical gaps and to tax and expenditure elasticities with respect to national income, indicators of structural budget positions should be interpreted as broad orders of magnitude. Moreover, it is important to note that changes in structural budget balances are not necessarily attributable to policy changes but may reflect the built-in momentum of existing expenditure programs. In the period beyond that for which specific consolidation programs exist, it is assumed that the structural deficit remains unchanged.
Please note:
General Government Gross and Net Debt (national currency and ratio to GDP)
Government net debt comprises the stock (at year-end) of all government gross liabilities (both to residents and nonresidents) minus all government assets (domestic as well as foreign). Gross debt includes government assets. To avoid double counting, the data are based on a consolidated account (eliminating liabilities and assets between components of the government, such as budgetary units and social security funds). Net debt of the general government should reflect a consolidated account of central government plus state, provincial, or local governments.
Net Capital Flows (U.S. dollars)
Net private capital flows comprise net direct investment, net portfolio flows, and other long- and short-term net investment flows including official and private borrowing. Please note: the composition of several of the group aggregates appearing in the table "Emerging Market and Developing Countries: Net Capital Flows" differs from the standard WEO groups. "Total Emerging Markets" includes developing countries, Hong Kong SAR, Israel, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan Province of China. The table in Chapter 1 presents the data as follows:
Private capital flows, net
Private direct investment, net
Private portfolio flows, net
Other private capital flows, net
Official flows, net
Change in reserves
Memorandum
Current account
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External Debt and Debt Service (U.S. dollars, percent of U.S. dollar GDP, and percent of U.S. dollar exports of goods and services)
External debt data are expressed in billions of US dollars and reflect total external debt at year end for the group of other emerging market and developing countries only. External debt data are not collected for advanced economies.
Please note:
Current Account Balance (U.S. dollars and percent of U.S. dollar GDP)
Balance of payments data are based upon the methodology of the 5th edition of the International Monetary Fund's Balance of Payments Manual (1993). Data for the world total reflects errors, omissions, and asymmetries in balance of payments statistics on current account, as well as the exclusion of data for international organizations and a limited number of countries. Calculated as the sum of the balance of individual countries.
Please note:
Trade Volumes and Terms of Trade (annual percent change)
Trade volume series represent trade values deflated by the unit value in order to obtain constant price data. Terms of trade series are derived from the export unit value divided by the import unit value. The base year of the underlying data is 2000.
Average petroleum spot price (APSP)
The APSP denotes an equally weighted average of three crude oil spot prices—West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”), Dated Brent (“Brent”), and Dubai Fateh (“Dubai”). The prices of these crude oils tend to move together according to the inequality WTI > Brent > Dubai. Their price differentials reflect differences in American Petroleum Institute (API) measure of gravity, sulfur content, and overall weight. The WTI spot price refers to the physical delivery price for a barrel of WTI deliverable to Cushing, Oklahoma. The WTI price is frequently mentioned in the financial press, and is often described as the “headline” oil price. The Brent spot price is the physical delivery price for a barrel of either Dated Brent (UK), Forties (Norway), or Oseberg (Norway) to Sullom Voe, United Kingdom (in the Shetland Islands). The Dubai Fateh spot price refers to the physical price for a barrel of Dubai Fateh deliverable in the Arabian Gulf at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR, percent)
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This file provides information gathered from IMF country staff on each country's currency and base year of the national accounts as well as the IMF and ISO country codes.
The World Economic Outlook divides the world into two major country groups: “advanced economies” and “other emerging market and developing countries.” Rather than being based on strict criteria, economic or otherwise, this classification has evolved over time with the objective of facilitating analysis by providing a reasonably meaningful organization of data. A few countries are presently not included in these groups, either because they are not IMF members and their economies are not monitored by the IMF, or because databases have not yet been compiled. Cuba and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are examples of countries that are not IMF members, whereas San Marino, among the advanced economies, and Aruba, among the developing countries, are examples of economies for which databases have not been completed. A complete list of the composition of the groups is available.
Composite data for country groups /in the World Economic Outlook are either sums or weighted averages of data for individual countries. Unless otherwise indicated, multiyear averages of growth rates are expressed as compound annual rates of change. Arithmetically weighted averages are used for all data except inflation and money growth for the developing and transition country groups, for which geometric averages are used. The following conventions apply:
The data appearing in the World Economic Outlook are provided to the Research Department at the time of the WEO exercise, not on a continual basis. The historical data and projections are based upon the information gathered by the IMF country economists in the context of their missions and ongoing analysis of the evolving situation in member countries; projections are staff estimates. The data published in the Statistics Department’s International Financial Statistics are gathered as part of an ongoing data collection effort in which member country statistical agencies provide public statistics to the IMF. Because of differences in data collection techniques, methodological issues, focus, and timing, the data in International Financial Statistics and the World Economic Outlook may differ.
