World Economic Outlook Database - Groups and Aggregates
World Economic Outlook
Source details
- Canonical URL
- World Economic Outlook Database - Groups and Aggregates
Other formats
Database updates and references
- Last Updated: April 2025
- Publications referenced: World Economic Outlook, April 2024; World Economic Outlook Database, April 2024
- Related sections noted: Changes to the Database; Assumptions and Data Conventions; Country Information; Groups and Aggregates; Frequently Asked Questions: WEO
Classification of economies
- The WEO divides the world into two major groups: advanced economies and emerging and developing economies.
- The classification:
- Is not based on strict criteria, economic or otherwise, and has evolved over time.
- Aims to facilitate analysis by providing a reasonably meaningful method of organizing data.
- Examples of economies outside the classification because they are not IMF members:
- Cuba
- Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Aggregation methods and conventions
- General:
- Composite data for country groups are either sums or weighted averages of data for individual countries.
- Unless noted otherwise, group composites are computed if 90 percent or more of the share of group weights is represented.
- Weighting rules:
- Emerging market and developing economies (group) use arithmetically weighted averages for all data except inflation.
- Inflation for emerging market and developing economies (and subgroups) uses geometric averages.
- Composites for other domestic economy data (growth rates or ratios) are weighted by GDP valued at purchasing power parity as a share of total world or group GDP.
- Composite unemployment rates and employment growth are weighted by labor force as a share of group labor force.
- Inflation aggregation specifics:
- For advanced economies (and subgroups), annual inflation rates are simple percentage changes from the previous years.
- For world inflation and inflation in emerging market and developing economies (and subgroups), annual rates are based on logarithmic differences.
- Real GDP per capita (PPP terms):
- Composites are sums of individual country data after conversion to the international dollar in the years indicated.
- Euro area and GDP reporting:
- Unless noted otherwise, composites for all sectors for the euro area are corrected for reporting discrepancies in transactions within the area.
- Unadjusted annual GDP data are used for the euro area and for the majority of individual countries.
- Exceptions where calendar-adjusted data are used: Cyprus, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain.
- For data prior to 1999, data aggregations apply 1995 European currency unit exchange rates.
- Fiscal data:
- Composites for fiscal data are sums of individual country data after conversion to US dollars at the average market exchange rates in the years indicated.
- External sector statistics and trade:
- Composites relating to external sector statistics are sums of individual country data after conversion to US dollars at the average market exchange rates in the years indicated for balance of payments data and at end-of-year market exchange rates for debt denominated in currencies other than US dollars.
- Composites of changes in foreign trade volumes and prices are arithmetic averages of percent changes for individual countries weighted by the US dollar value of exports or imports as a share of total world or group exports or imports (in the preceding year).
Group composition (examples and listings)
- The WEO provides group membership listings for advanced economies, subgroups within advanced economies, emerging market and developing economies, and regional groupings.
- Country lists are provided for multiple groupings (advanced economies and many regional and income-based groupings), with individual economies enumerated in the WEO groups and aggregates tables.
Content in this bundle
- Country Information April 2024