The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries accounted for around 50 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) expressed in Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) in 2011 - the latest benchmark year - compared with about 60 per cent in 2005, the previous benchmark year, according to new data released by the International Comparison Program (ICP).

The ICP is the largest worldwide statistical partnership involving some 200 countries and regional agencies. It collects internationally comparable prices and estimates volume measures for GDP and its components based on PPPs.

The OECD is a partner in the ICP. Together with Eurostat, it calculated new 2011 benchmark PPPs for GDP and final consumption for 47 countries. These benchmark results  were included in the world-wide ICP comparison.

Large emerging economies (China, Brazil, India, Indonesia, the Russian Federation and South Africa) together accounted for around 30 per cent of the world’s GDP in 2011, compared with about 20 per cent in 2005, stated the ICP report.

In 2011, the three largest economies in the world were the US (17.1 per cent), China (14.9 per cent) and India (6.4 per cent).
 
On a per capita basis, the OECD area’s GDP expressed in PPPs was about 2.5 times the global rate while OECD actual individual consumption, which provides a better reference for international comparisons of households’ material well-being, was about three times the world average, said the report.

Per capita actual individual consumption in large emerging economies showed significant variations, from 1.75 times (Russian Federation) to 0.35 times (India) world actual individual consumption, it added.-TradeArabia News Service