World Economic Outlook Database April 1999
World Economic Outlook
Source details
- Canonical URL
- World Economic Outlook Database April 1999
Other formats
Overview
- The WEO database is created during the biannual World Economic Outlook (WEO) exercise, which begins in January and June of each year and results in the WEO publication, which is released in May and October.
- Selected series available in the World Economic Outlook publication are released on the website at the time of the release of the WEO press version (late April and September).
- The WEO exercise is coordinated by the World Economic Studies Division in the Research Department.
- Projections and analysis in the World Economic Outlook are an integral element of IMF surveillance of economic development and policies.
Data coverage and availability
- World aggregates for the following annual series are provided from 1970:
- Gross domestic product (values at market exchange rates and purchasing power parity [PPP] exchange rates)
- World trade volume of goods and services (annual percent change)
- World exports of goods and services (billions of U.S. dollars)
- World imports of goods and services (billions of U.S. dollars)
- World aggregates for the following monthly series are provided from 1991:
- Industrial production (percent change from a year earlier; three-month centered moving average)
- The dataset includes:
- Real Gross Domestic Product (annual percent change) — All countries; Advanced economies; Developing and transition countries (CSV)
- Real Gross Domestic Product (billions of local currency units)
- Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices (billions of local currency units)
- Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices (billions of U.S. dollars)
- Inflation (annual percent change)
- Output Gaps (percent of potential GDP)
- G-7 countries (CSV)
- Net Capital Flows (billions of US dollars) — Developing and transition country groups (CSV)
- Group A countries: approximately 50 of the largest economies, referred to as Group A countries, which account for 90 percent of world output, have projections updated for each WEO exercise.
- Data through 1991 apply to west Germany only.
- For developing countries and many countries in transition, figures for recent years are IMF staff estimates; for some transition countries figures refer to real net material product (NMP) or are estimates based on NMP.
- Data for inflation are annual percentage change averages for the year, not end-of-period data.
- Some country data are for fiscal years.
Methodology and conventions
- WEO projections are prepared by country desk economists in area departments on the basis of internationally consistent assumptions about world economic activity, exchange rates, and conditions in international financial and commodity markets.
- For developing and transition countries, GDP in U.S. dollars is based upon GDP in national currency and the exchange rate projections provided by the country desk economists.
- Exchange rates for advanced economies are set as one part of the WEO assumptions during the WEO exercise.
- WEO group aggregate data presentation:
- Domestic economy series are expressed in billions of national currency units and are expressed in index form for group aggregates; the focus is percentage change.
- External accounts series are expressed in billions of U.S. dollars.
- Indexes are generally based on 1990.
- Shares of Aggregate GDP Based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) valuation:
- Data are expressed as percent of the world total and form the basis for country weights used to generate WEO country group composites.
- The IMF is not a primary source for PPP data; WEO weights have been created from primary sources and are used solely for generating country group composites.
- For primary PPP sources, refer to OECD, the World Bank, or the Penn World Tables.
- See Annex IV of the May 1993 World Economic Outlook and Anne Marie Gulde and Marianne Schulze-Ghattas, "Purchasing Power Parity Based Weights for the World Economic Outlook," in Staff Studies for the World Economic Outlook (Washington: IMF, December 1993), pp. 106-23.
Series definitions and notes
- Real Gross Domestic Product (local currencies): expressed in billions of national currency units; the base year is country-specific; the last available year matches the statistical tables in the WEO publication.
- Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices (local currencies): expressed in billions of national currency units; the last available year matches GDP in constant prices in the WEO statistical tables.
- Gross Domestic Product in U.S. Dollars: expressed in billions of U.S. dollars; last available year consistent with GDP in constant prices in the WEO statistical tables.
- Output gaps: calculated as actual GDP less potential GDP as a percent of potential GDP; estimates are subject to a significant margin of uncertainty. 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.
- Net private capital flows comprise net direct investment, net portfolio investment, and other long- and short-term net investment flows including official and private borrowing.
- Composition and definitions in the "Emerging Market Economies: Net Capital Flows" table:
- "Total Emerging Markets" includes developing countries, countries in transition, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan Province of China, and Israel.
- Series order in the data file: Net Private capital flows; Net direct investment; Net portfolio investment; Other net investment; Net official flows; Change in reserves; Memorandum; Current account.
- Because of data limitations, "other net investment" may include some official flows.
- Change in reserves: a minus sign indicates an increase.
- The difference between the current account and the sum of net private capital flows, net official flows, and change in reserves is the capital account and errors and omissions.
- "Asia" includes Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan Province of China. Data for Hong Kong SAR are not available.
- "Crisis countries" includes Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
- "Middle East and Europe" includes Israel.
How to use the files
- Data tables are provided in Comma Delimited, CSV text file format.
- Null field values are represented by the phrase "n.a." Users may need to replace all instances of "n.a." with a blank field before importing.
- Recommended viewing and retrieval:
- To view a data table, click the CSV link located to the right of the table name or right-click the CSV link and select "Open in New Window."
- To save a data table to disk, highlight the CSV link, right-click, and select "Save Target As." Save the file as a CSV Text Document.
- To retrieve into a spreadsheet, use the spreadsheet application's normal "open" steps; import options may be prompted to ensure proper formatting.
- To import into a database, create a new table and import the CSV file; set file import options as required.
- If retrieving into an ASCII text editor or word-processing application, proceed with normal file open steps; word processors may prompt to convert from "ASCII Text."
- Key file import options (as provided):
- Data Type: Comma Delimited
- File Origin: Windows ANSI
- Text Qualifier: {"}
- Field Delimiter: {,}
- First Row: Field Names
- Suggested print format settings (as provided): Page Size = Legal; Page Orientation = Landscape; Font Size = 8 point or smaller; Margins Left = 0", Right = 0" (actual margin width may default to the lowest printer default).
Contact and queries
- Queries about the WEO database should be sent to the e-mail address weo@imf.org.
- An alternate capitalization appears as WEO@IMF.ORG in the source for queries about the WEO database.
Content in this bundle
- Capflow (CSV)
- Growth A (CSV)
- Growth B (CSV)
- Growth C (CSV)
- Latest (CSV)
- Ngap (CSV)
- Ngdp A (CSV)
- Ngdp B (CSV)
- Ngdp C (CSV)
- Ngdp R A (CSV)
- Ngdp R B (CSV)
- Ngdp R C (CSV)
- Ngdpd A (CSV)
- Ngdpd B (CSV)
- Ngdpd C (CSV)
- Pcpi A (CSV)
- Pcpi B (CSV)
- Pcpi C (CSV)
- Ppp A (CSV)
- Ppp B (CSV)
- Ppp C (CSV)
- W1 (CSV)