202 Homework #8: World Economic Data

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The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency maintains an online World Factbook Links to an external site.that is a convenient source of a wide variety of geographic, social, and economic information.  You may look up information by individual country (See drop down menu “Please select a country to view.” Or you may look up information by topic (See "Guide to Country Comparisons" (bottom of page).

Directions: Find the following information. Note: You may submit your answers directly into Canvas or you may submit a file.

1. List the 16 countries in the world with over 100 million population. (Note: Look under Guide to Country Comparisons, “People and Society.” Include only countries, i.e. do not include the “European Union.”

2. List the 10 countries in the world with a GDP over $3 trillion. Again, include only individual countries, and do not list the European Union. (Look under Guide to Country Comparisons, “Economy.” Choose “GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)” Purchasing Power Parity means that some adjustments have been made to the GDP numbers to make them more comparable.

3. While the size of GDP is an important measure, the economic performance of an economy is typically measured by economic growth (Percent change in Real GDP. Reminder: Real GDP is Nominal GDP adjusted for inflation). List the growth rates for 2017 (or the latest data available) for the 10 largest economies. Note: These are the 10 countries that you listed in question #2.

4. An important indicator in making comparisons among countries is “GDP per capita.” This is a measure of GDP per person or “per head.” It is useful in that it recognizes that countries with large populations need to have larger economies. However, it is important to remember that GDP per person does not indicate the ”typical” income of an individual in that country. Find GDP per capita in the following 8 countries: United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Russia, Iran, N. Korea, India

5. GDP per capita is a relatively narrow measure of a country’s economic well-bring. It does not take into consideration such important factors as income distribution, life expectancy, poverty (and extreme poverty), education, or gender equality. The United Nations Development Program has developed an alternative measure which takes into consideration some of these factors. The Human Development Index Links to an external site. (HDI) is a composite measure of: life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling for adults aged 25 years or more, as well as Gross National Income per capita. List the HDI for the following 8 countries: United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Russia, Iran, India, Afghanistan.