Annual percentages of constant price GDP are year-on-year changes;  the base year is country-specific.
Current account is all transactions other than those in financial and capital items. The major classifications are goods and services, income and current transfers. The focus of the BOP is on transactions (between an economy and the rest of the world) in goods, services, and income.
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
Data for inflation are averages for the year, not end-of-period data.
Data for inflation are end of the period, not annual average data.
Employment can be defined by either the national definition, the ILO harmonized definition, or the OECD harmonized definition. Persons who during a specified brief period such as one week or one day, (a) performed some work for wage or salary in cash or in kind, (b) had a formal attachment to their job but were temporarily not at work during the reference period, (c) performed some work for profit or family gain in cash or in kind, (d) were with an enterprise such as a business, farm or service but who were temporarily not at work during the reference period for any specific reason. [Current International Recommendations on Labour Statistics, 1988 Edition, ILO, Geneva, page 47]
For census purposes, the total population of the country consists of all persons falling within the scope of the census. In the broadest sense, the total may comprise either all usual residents of the country or all persons present in the country at the time of the census. [Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses, Revision 1, paragraph 2.42]
GDP is expressed in billions of national currency units.
GDP is expressed in constant national currency per person. Data are derived by dividing constant price GDP by total population.
GDP is expressed in current national currency per person. Data are derived by dividing current price GDP by total population.
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.
Gross debt consists of all liabilities that require payment or payments of interest and/or principal by the debtor to the creditor at a date or dates in the future. This includes debt liabilities in the form of SDRs, currency and deposits, debt securities, loans, insurance, pensions and standardized guarantee schemes, and other accounts payable. Thus, all liabilities in the GFSM 2001 system are debt, except for equity and investment fund shares and financial derivatives and employee stock options. Debt can be valued at current market, nominal, or face values (GFSM 2001, paragraph 7.110).
Gross domestic product corresponding to fiscal year is the country?s GDP based on the same period during the year as their fiscal data. In the case of countries whose fiscal data are based on a fiscal calendar (e.g., July to June), this series would be the country?s GDP over that same period. For countries whose fiscal data are based on a calendar year (i.e., January to December), this series will be the same as their GDP in current prices.
Net debt is calculated as gross debt minus financial assets corresponding to debt instruments. These financial assets are: monetary gold and SDRs, currency and deposits, debt securities, loans, insurance, pension, and standardized guarantee schemes, and other accounts receivable.
Net debt is calculated as gross debt minus financial assets corresponding to debt instruments. These financial assets are: monetary gold and SDRs, currency and deposits, debt securities, loans, insurance, pension, and standardized guarantee schemes, and other accounts receivable.receivable.
Net lending (+)/ borrowing (?) is calculated as revenue minus total expenditure. This is a core GFS balance that measures the extent to which general government is either putting financial resources at the disposal of other sectors in the economy and nonresidents (net lending), or utilizing the financial resources generated by other sectors and nonresidents (net borrowing). This balance may be viewed as an indicator of the financial impact of general government activity on the rest of the economy and nonresidents (GFSM 2001, paragraph 4.17). Note: Net lending (+)/borrowing (?) is also equal to net acquisition of financial assets minus net incurrence of liabilities.
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.
Percent change of volume of exports of goods refers to the aggregate change in the quantities of exports of goods whose characteristics are unchanged. The goods and their prices are held constant, therefore changes are due to changes in quantities only. [Export and Import Price Index Manual: Theory and Practice, Glossary]
Percent change of volume of exports refers to the aggregate change in the quantities of total exports whose characteristics are unchanged. The goods and services and their prices are held constant, therefore changes are due to changes in quantities only. [Export and Import Price Index Manual: Theory and Practice, Glossary]
Percent change of volume of imports of goods refers to the aggregate change in the quantities of imports of goods whose characteristics are unchanged. The goods and their prices are held constant, therefore changes are due to changes in quantities only. [Export and Import Price Index Manual: Theory and Practice, Glossary]
Percent change of volume of imports refers to the aggregate change in the quantities of total imports whose characteristics are unchanged. The goods and services and their prices are held constant, therefore changes are due to changes in quantities only. [Export and Import Price Index Manual: Theory and Practice, Glossary]
Primary net lending/borrowing is net lending (+)/borrowing (?) plus net interest payable/paid (interest expense minus interest revenue).
Real GDP is expressed in billions of national currency units; the base year is country-specific.
Revenue consists of taxes, social contributions, grants receivable, and other revenue. Revenue increases government?s net worth, which is the difference between its assets and liabilities (GFSM 2001, paragraph 4.20). Note: Transactions that merely change the composition of the balance sheet do not change the net worth position, for example, proceeds from sales of nonfinancial and financial assets or incurrence of liabilities.
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:   Data are expressed in the base year of each country's national accounts.
The structural budget balance refers to the general government cyclically adjusted balance adjusted for nonstructural elements beyond the economic cycle. These include temporary financial sector and asset price movements as well as one-off, or temporary, revenue or expenditure items. The cyclically adjusted balance is the fiscal balance adjusted for the effects of the economic cycle; see, for example, A. Fedelino. A. Ivanova and M. Horton ?Computing Cyclically Adjusted Balances and Automatic Stabilizers? IMF Technical Guidance Note No. 5, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/tnm/2009/tnm0905.pdf.
These data form the basis for the country weights used to generate the World Economic Outlook country group composites for the domestic economy.   Please note:   The IMF is not a primary source for purchasing power parity (PPP) data. WEO weights have been created from primary sources and are used solely for purposes of generating country group composites. For primary source information, please refer to one of the following sources: the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, or the Penn World Tables.  For further information see Box A2 in the April 2004 World Economic Outlook, Box 1.2 in the September 2003 World Economic Outlook for a discussion on the measurement of global growth and Box A.1 in the May 2000 World Economic Outlook for a summary of the revised PPP-based weights, and Annex IV of the May 1993 World Economic Outlook. See also 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.
Total expenditure consists of total expense and the net acquisition of nonfinancial assets. Note: Apart from being on an accrual basis, total expenditure differs from the GFSM 1986 definition of total expenditure in the sense that it also takes the disposals of nonfinancial assets into account.
Unemployment rate can be defined by either the national definition, the ILO harmonized definition, or the OECD harmonized definition. The OECD harmonized unemployment rate gives the number of unemployed persons as a percentage of the labor force (the total number of people employed plus unemployed). [OECD Main Economic Indicators, OECD, monthly] As defined by the International Labour Organization, "unemployed workers" are those who are currently not working but are willing and able to work for pay, currently available to work, and have actively searched for work. [ILO, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/res/index.htm]
Value is equal to the price per unit of quantity of oil exports multiplied by the number of quantity units.
Value is equal to the price per unit of quantity of oil imports multiplied by the number of quantity units.
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.