GDP tells us about the size of a nation’s economy, and it is one of the most important economic indicators. It is closely watched by economists, investors, and policymakers. It can give a snapshot of the state of the economy, such as whether it is contracting or expanding, and whether a threat such as a recession or inflation is looming. It can also help guide economic policy, such as whether central banks should boost the economy with expansionary monetary policy or slow it down with contractionary monetary policy.
This page displays a table with values for Global GDP reported in several countries. The table includes the current value, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency plus links to historical data charts.
Weak investment has weighed on global output growth since the GFC, despite historically low financing costs and strong corporate profitability. This weakness reflects the lasting impact of two major shocks – the COVID-19 pandemic and the slowdown in capital accumulation that followed the GFC. It has also been exacerbated by the ongoing effects of the global housing bubble and the persistently slow pace of public and private sector spending in developed economies. The column on the right of the table shows how relative GDP is redistributed when an exogenous shock in final demand is received by a country or region. For example, when there is a 1 % increase in world demand, Other Service Activities (Sector 25) increases its relative contribution to GDP by 1.25 million dollars in China and by 0.56 million dollars in the EU.