Statistics and facts on the Global Economy

The global gross domestic product (GDP), i.e. the total value of all goods and services manufactured and produced in one year, amounted to approximately 77.3 trillion U.S. dollars in 2014. Among the states with the highest gross domestic product, the United States ranked first with almost 18 trillion U.S. dollars, followed by China, Japan, and Germany. According to a forecast for 2030, this ranking is about to be shaken up significantly, since emerging countries, such as the BRIC states China, India, Russia and Brazil, are growing faster than the industrialized states. In total, global economic growth amounted to about 3.43 percent in 2014 – an increase from 3.31 percent in 2013.

However, if we compare gross domestic product with the number of inhabitants and take a look at GDP per capita, the industrialized states are significantly ahead of the emerging countries. Luxembourg, Switzerland and Qatar have the highest GDP per capita worldwide as of 2015, while Malawi, the Central African Republic and Burundi lead the ranking of the countries with the lowest GDP per capita that same year. On average, global GDP per capita amounted to approximately 10,724 U.S. dollars in 2014.

In 2014, more than 200 million people were unemployed worldwide, equating to a global unemployment rate of approximately 6 percent. Among the world regions with the highest unemployment rates are North Africa and the Middle East, both with an unemployment rate of more than 10 percent.

The global inflation rate was at 3.45 percent in 2014. 2015, Consumer prices are increasing most significantly in Venezuela, South Sudan and Ukraine, while the lowest inflation rates were reported from Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and El Salvador.

The leading exporting country in 2014 was China, with exports worth about 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars, closely followed by the United States and Germany. The ranking of the leading importing countries, however, sees the United States at the top, followed by China and Germany.



This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.

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