GDP and PPP: what’s the link?

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GDP and PPP are important economic calculations that determine a country’s fiscal strength and exchange rates. Inflation can affect both figures, and analyzing them can help economists report on international market prices.

Economics can be a national study of a country’s fiscal attributes. Two important attributes are gross domestic product (GDP) and purchase price parity (PPP). GDP represents all goods – in terms of market value – produced by a nation; PPP is an economic theory of exchange rates between companies. There is a relationship between GDP and PPP because nations want information on the price of a single item in each nation’s currency. There may be fluctuations in these prices, making a country’s goods more expensive, or vice versa.

GDP and PPP are economic calculations that can determine the strength of a nation’s economy. For example, a company experiencing natural economic growth tends to have positive GDP figures, which represent an increase in the market value of the assets. Inflation can be a natural phenomenon in growing, free-market economies. The classic definition of inflation is that too many dollars are chasing too many goods. In this case, a country’s PPP can also fluctuate due to changes in the value of the currency due to inflation.

Many economies require raw materials from another nation to produce goods. The exchange rate is determined in part due to the economic GDP and PPP figures in an economy. For example, a company in the United States can exchange US currency for euros to pay for materials obtained from a country in the European Union. If inflation has weakened the US dollar, more dollars are needed to buy euros and thus pay for goods. A common measurement used in analyzing GDP and PPP is measuring the price for a basket of goods.

In economics, a basket of goods often represents items that most households in a nation need to live a standard lifestyle. Goods vary from country to country as goods are different for each group of citizens. The total market value of the basket is often a historical analysis of trends. As prices rise, which is more common since deflation is rare compared to inflation, PPP exchange rates will also fluctuate. When inflation occurs too much in one country, other countries may choose to do business elsewhere as spending more money on the same amount of goods is generally unfavourable.

Analyzing GDP and PPP can also help economists report on the price of goods in an international market. For example, companies may inquire about purchasing teak wood for furniture manufacturing. A report of all countries with teak wood for sale will be in the PPP report. Often, the country with the most favorable exchange rates will be at the top of the company’s list.




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