Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
Global GDP - statistics & facts
There are several different ways of measuring the economic strength of countries and comparing them with others; gross domestic product (GDP) is the most commonly used tool for this. The term GDP was first developed in the United States in the 1930s, when Simon Kuznets, an American Economist, statistician, and Noble prize laureate, came up with an idea to assess the size of the economy by combining the financial value of individuals, companies, and the government. After the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, GDP was officially adopted by many financial institutions and regulators as a tool for measuring a country’s economy, and it has become the international standard since the 1990s. At present, GDP is defined as the monetary value of all goods and services produced in a given country or region within a specified time period.
Looking at specific economic regions and areas, advanced economies had a combined GDP of nearly 58 trillion U.S. dollars as of 2022, while emerging and developing countries accounted for approximately 43 trillion dollars. Meanwhile, developing economies were forecast to have had the highest GDP growth rate in 2022, while it was forecast to be negative in economies in transition both 2022 and 2023.
The United States has the highest GDP worldwide
As of 2022, the global GDP amounted to over 100 trillion U.S. dollars. Looking at individual countries, the United States has the largest in the world with 25 trillion U.S. dollars as of 2022, amounting to about a quarter of the global GDP. China is the world’s second largest economy, followed by Japan and Germany.Looking at specific economic regions and areas, advanced economies had a combined GDP of nearly 58 trillion U.S. dollars as of 2022, while emerging and developing countries accounted for approximately 43 trillion dollars. Meanwhile, developing economies were forecast to have had the highest GDP growth rate in 2022, while it was forecast to be negative in economies in transition both 2022 and 2023.
Contribution of various sectors to GDP
The GDP figure is often calculated for various industries to see how they contribute to the growth of the economy. Generally speaking, the services sector contributes more to national GDP than any other sector; although the Arab World is one exception, where the industry sector contributes almost as much as the service sector, underlining the importance of oil and gas in the region.GDP forecasts
Global GDP growth rates had been positive since the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. However, following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the global GDP fell by 3.4 percent. The global economy quickly recovered though, and growth rates were up at nearly six percent in 2021. Predictions were originally positive for both 2022 and 2023, but the full impact of the Russia-Ukraine war and the following rising inflation remains to be seen.
