Data Quality Ratings


Organisations of many kinds use GDP data. Governments, Non-Governmental Organisations, Civil Societies, Businesses and a thousand others trust "official" economic data and use it as if it were holy writ. Highly regarded companies like global consultants McKinsey produce lists of the fastest growing countries to admire and perhaps invest in. Government aid is distributed, product plans put together, and factories built using such data as authoritative ammunition.

Yet few bother to inquire whether the GDP data used is of reasonable quality. In reality a great deal of GDP data is of such poor quality it should never be used to site an ice cream stall let alone be part of an elaborate business plan.


Measuring Data Quality

World Economics has spent many years studying the problems associated with GDP and population data. We have found many fault lines. Data is often out of date. Giant areas of economic activity not included. Half newly born children not registered. Statistics offices underfunded and unable to run good quality surveys. Data spoiled by politicians trying to gain an edge. Data simply not published to avoid political fallout. And so on.


GDP and Population Data Quality: Good data + Bad data = unreliable data

World Economics has developed the Global GDP Data Quality Ratings to review the usefulness of official GDP data of individual countries. The Ratings currently cover five factors to determine data quality. Each factor is evaluated to provide country scores which are then normalised using the standard deviation of the data for each factor and combined into the DQR score using an average aggregate to reflect the importance of each of the individual factors. These five factors used to judge data quality are: Base Year used to calculate the GDP data (chained or years out of date), Standard of National Accounts (SNA) applied, estimated size of the Informal Economy, a proxy for Resources Devoted to Measuring Economic Activity and a proxy measure for likely Government Interference in Economic Data production. See expanded ranking table with source data.

The accuracy of population data varies widely across countries. In order to take account of the problems and to assess the relative accuracy of population estimates World Economics has produced a Population Data Quality Rating (PDQR). The ratings cover three factors: Census year, Statistical capacity and Registration of live births. See expanded ranking table with source data.


GDP Data Quality Ratings

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Africa
Asia Pacific
Americas
Europe
Rank Country World Economics
Data Quality
Index		 World Economics
Data Grade
(A-E)
1 Switzerland 98.6 A
2 Netherlands 97.9 A
3 New Zealand 97.9 A
4 Denmark 97.6 A
5 Finland 97.4 A
6 Luxembourg 97.4 A
7 Sweden 97.2 A
8 Germany 97.0 A
9 Norway 97.0 A
10 Canada 96.7 A
11 Ireland 96.6 A
12 Austria 96.5 A
13 Australia 96.3 A
14 United Kingdom 96.3 A
15 Iceland 95.6 A
16 Japan 95.6 A
17 United States 95.1 A
18 France 94.9 A
19 Belgium 93.7 A
20 Czechia 93.2 A
21 Portugal 92.7 A
22 Singapore 92.3 A
23 Spain 90.8 A
24 Slovenia 89.9 A
25 Taiwan 89.7 A
26 Korea, Rep. 89.6 A
27 Israel 89.1 A
28 Hong Kong 88.7 A
29 Chile 88.4 A
30 Italy 88.4 A
31 Cyprus 87.3 A
32 Malta 86.8 B
33 Costa Rica 86.6 B
34 Mauritius 86.6 B
35 Greece 86.4 B
36 Romania 84.6 B
37 Poland 84.4 B
38 United Arab Emirates 83.8 B
39 Croatia 83.6 B
40 Bulgaria 82.2 B
41 Estonia 81.2 B
42 Mongolia 81.1 B
43 Latvia 81.0 B
44 Bahamas, The 80.5 B
45 Lithuania 80.4 B
46 Oman 80.0 B
47 Slovak Republic 80.0 B
48 Uruguay 79.9 B
49 Armenia 79.7 B
50 Moldova 78.8 B
51 Brazil 78.3 B
52 North Macedonia 77.6 B
53 Colombia 77.4 B
54 South Africa 77.0 B
55 Dominican Republic 76.9 B
56 Georgia 75.8 B
57 Jordan 75.8 B
58 Malaysia 74.8 B
59 Türkiye 74.4 B
60 Serbia 74.1 B
61 Hungary 74.0 B
62 Qatar 73.9 B
63 Bahrain 73.9 C
64 Indonesia 73.7 C
65 Malawi 73.2 C
66 China 73.1 C
67 Namibia 73.0 C
68 Morocco 72.6 C
69 Saudi Arabia 72.6 C
70 Philippines 72.5 C
71 Botswana 72.0 C
72 Ukraine 71.8 C
73 Algeria 71.7 C
74 Ghana 71.3 C
75 Sri Lanka 71.2 C
76 Suriname 71.0 C
77 Rwanda 70.7 C
78 Mexico 70.6 C
79 Belarus 69.7 C
80 Burkina Faso 69.5 C
81 Russia 69.4 C
82 Albania 69.2 C
83 Togo 68.9 C
84 Senegal 68.5 C
85 Niger 68.3 C
86 Lesotho 68.0 C
87 Argentina 67.9 C
88 Cote d'Ivoire 67.9 C
89 El Salvador 67.9 C
90 Benin 67.6 C
91 India 67.6 C
92 Guatemala 67.4 D
93 Mauritania 67.3 D
94 Uganda 67.2 D
95 Kenya 67.1 D
96 Pakistan 66.3 D
97 Turkmenistan 66.2 D
98 Comoros 65.9 D
99 Kuwait 65.9 D
100 Lebanon 65.7 D
101 Gambia 65.4 D
102 Kyrgyzstan 64.5 D
103 Mozambique 64.2 D
104 Peru 64.2 D
105 Tanzania 63.9 D
106 Tunisia 63.8 D
107 Paraguay 63.6 D
108 Ecuador 63.1 D
109 Kazakhstan 63.0 D
110 Bosnia and Herzegovina 62.3 D
111 Cameroon 61.9 D
112 Eswatini 61.7 D
113 Thailand 61.7 D
114 Sierra Leone 61.5 D
115 Zambia 61.0 D
116 Uzbekistan 60.7 D
117 Azerbaijan 59.3 D
118 Panama 59.0 D
119 Myanmar 58.4 D
120 Egypt 57.4 D
121 Nicaragua 57.1 D
122 Tajikistan 57.0 E
123 Vietnam 56.8 E
124 Jamaica 55.9 E
125 Guyana 55.8 E
126 Bangladesh 54.9 E
127 Liberia 54.9 E
128 Bhutan 54.7 E
129 Papua New Guinea 53.7 E
130 Nigeria 53.5 E
131 Haiti 53.0 E
132 Laos 52.7 E
133 Ethiopia 52.3 E
134 Zimbabwe 52.1 E
135 Guinea-Bissau 51.5 E
136 Nepal 51.5 E
137 Madagascar 49.7 E
138 Guinea 48.0 E
139 Burundi 44.8 E
140 Chad 44.6 E
141 Mali 44.2 E
142 Angola 41.9 E
143 Libya 41.6 E
144 Congo, Rep. 41.1 E
145 Cambodia 40.8 E
146 Honduras 40.7 E
147 Yemen, Rep. 40.1 E
148 Central African Republic 38.6 E
149 Congo, Dem. Rep 37.1 E
150 Gabon 36.6 E
151 Bolivia 35.7 E
152 Sudan 31.6 E
153 Afghanistan 28.8 E


More: For more data on individual countries click the country name.



Population Data Quality Ratings

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Africa
Asia Pacific
Americas
Europe
Rank Country World Economics
Data Quality
Index		 World Economics
Data Grade
(A-E)
1 Ireland 100.0 A
2 Kuwait 100.0 A
3 Australia 99.2 A
4 Canada 99.2 A
5 United Kingdom 99.2 A
6 Armenia 98.7 A
7 Japan 98.5 A
8 Oman 98.5 A
9 Qatar 98.5 A
10 Singapore 98.5 A
11 United States 98.5 A
12 Saudi Arabia 98.3 A
13 Kyrgyzstan 97.8 A
14 Korea, Rep. 97.7 A
15 Mauritius 97.1 A
16 New Zealand 97.0 A
17 Slovenia 97.0 A
18 Mongolia 96.8 A
19 Russia 95.7 A
20 Taiwan 95.6 A
21 Brazil 95.5 A
22 France 95.4 A
23 Hong Kong 95.4 A
24 Thailand 95.1 A
25 Türkiye 95.1 A
26 Kazakhstan 95.0 A
27 Poland 95.0 A
28 China 94.5 A
29 Belarus 94.4 A
30 Argentina 94.2 A
31 Mexico 93.9 A
32 Malaysia 93.8 B
33 North Macedonia 93.6 B
34 Chile 93.4 B
35 Philippines 93.3 B
36 Turkmenistan 92.9 B
37 Ukraine 92.9 B
38 Colombia 92.8 B
39 Egypt 92.5 B
40 Azerbaijan 92.4 B
41 Italy 92.4 B
42 Moldova 92.1 B
43 Tajikistan 92.1 B
44 Vietnam 91.8 B
45 Austria 91.6 B
46 Belgium 91.6 B
47 Cyprus 91.6 B
48 Czechia 91.6 B
49 Denmark 91.6 B
50 Germany 91.6 B
51 Greece 91.6 B
52 Iceland 91.6 B
53 Luxembourg 91.6 B
54 Malta 91.6 B
55 Netherlands 91.6 B
56 Norway 91.6 B
57 Portugal 91.6 B
58 Spain 91.6 B
59 Sweden 91.6 B
60 Peru 91.5 B
61 Georgia 91.2 B
62 Indonesia 91.0 B
63 Bahamas, The 90.9 C
64 Bahrain 90.9 C
65 Finland 90.9 C
66 Guatemala 90.9 C
67 Switzerland 90.9 C
68 United Arab Emirates 90.9 C
69 Israel 90.1 C
70 Panama 90.0 C
71 Costa Rica 89.8 C
72 Jordan 89.8 C
73 Serbia 89.4 C
74 Croatia 89.0 C
75 Albania 88.9 C
76 Bulgaria 88.8 C
77 Romania 88.5 C
78 Bhutan 88.2 C
79 Lithuania 87.9 C
80 Sri Lanka 87.8 C
81 Ghana 87.6 C
82 Uruguay 87.6 C
83 Mali 87.1 C
84 Algeria 86.9 C
85 Morocco 86.6 C
86 Burkina Faso 85.9 C
87 Tunisia 85.7 C
88 South Africa 85.6 C
89 Bosnia and Herzegovina 85.1 C
90 Myanmar 85.1 C
91 India 84.8 C
92 Sierra Leone 84.8 C
93 Cambodia 84.4 D
94 Malawi 84.4 D
95 Rwanda 84.2 D
96 Bolivia 84.1 D
97 Honduras 83.9 D
98 Dominican Republic 83.8 D
99 Suriname 83.6 D
100 El Salvador 83.3 D
101 Comoros 83.0 D
102 Benin 82.7 D
103 Kenya 82.7 D
104 Madagascar 82.6 D
105 Cote d'Ivoire 82.5 D
106 Latvia 82.3 D
107 Senegal 82.2 D
108 Jamaica 82.1 D
109 Laos 81.7 D
110 Nepal 81.5 D
111 Ecuador 81.4 D
112 Eswatini 81.1 D
113 Guyana 81.1 D
114 Togo 81.0 D
115 Estonia 80.4 D
116 Paraguay 79.7 D
117 Hungary 79.6 D
118 Mozambique 79.6 D
119 Slovak Republic 79.6 D
120 Botswana 79.1 D
121 Gabon 79.1 D
122 Pakistan 79.1 D
123 Gambia 79.0 E
124 Niger 79.0 E
125 Lesotho 77.9 E
126 Burundi 77.6 E
127 Namibia 77.5 E
128 Guinea 76.5 E
129 Nigeria 76.1 E
130 Congo, Rep. 75.6 E
131 Bangladesh 74.8 E
132 Uganda 74.6 E
133 Mauritania 74.3 E
134 Liberia 74.2 E
135 Zimbabwe 73.9 E
136 Sudan 73.7 E
137 Nicaragua 73.4 E
138 Haiti 73.2 E
139 Libya 72.8 E
140 Zambia 71.9 E
141 Tanzania 70.4 E
142 Guinea-Bissau 69.1 E
143 Cameroon 68.8 E
144 Uzbekistan 68.5 E
145 Angola 68.0 E
146 Chad 66.2 E
147 Papua New Guinea 64.8 E
148 Central African Republic 61.9 E
149 Ethiopia 58.7 E
150 Yemen, Rep. 58.0 E
151 Afghanistan 47.4 E
152 Congo, Dem. Rep 47.2 E
153 Lebanon 28.7 E






GDP Per Capita Data Quality Ratings

As differences exist in the quality of both GDP and population data between countries. When GDP and population data of poor quality are combined to produce GDP per capita data the accuracy of the resulting ratio is further diminished. The ratings table below attemps to show which countries data can be trusted for GDP per Capita data. A country's GDP per capita data can only be as good as the weakest of it's components.

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Africa
Asia Pacific
Americas
Europe
Rank
 Country World Economics Data
Grade
(A-E)		 World Economics GDP
Data Quality Rating
Index		 World Economics Population
Data Quality Rating
Index
1 New Zealand A 97.9 97.0
2 Canada A 96.7 99.2
3 Ireland A 96.6 100.0
4 Australia A 96.3 99.2
5 United Kingdom A 96.3 99.2
6 Japan A 95.6 98.5
7 United States A 95.1 98.5
8 France A 94.9 95.4
9 Singapore A 92.3 98.5
10 Austria A 96.5 91.6
11 Belgium A 93.7 91.6
12 Czechia A 93.2 91.6
13 Denmark A 97.6 91.6
14 Germany A 97.0 91.6
15 Iceland A 95.6 91.6
16 Luxembourg A 97.4 91.6
17 Netherlands A 97.9 91.6
18 Norway A 97.0 91.6
19 Portugal A 92.7 91.6
20 Sweden A 97.2 91.6
21 Finland A 97.4 90.9
22 Switzerland A 98.6 90.9
23 Spain A 90.8 91.6
24 Slovenia A 89.9 97.0
25 Taiwan A 89.7 95.6
26 Korea, Rep. A 89.6 97.7
27 Israel A 89.1 90.1
28 Hong Kong A 88.7 95.4
29 Chile A 88.4 93.4
30 Italy A 88.4 92.4
31 Cyprus A 87.3 91.6
32 Malta B 86.8 91.6
33 Costa Rica B 86.6 89.8
34 Mauritius B 86.6 97.1
35 Greece B 86.4 91.6
36 Romania B 84.6 88.5
37 Poland B 84.4 95.0
38 United Arab Emirates B 83.8 90.9
39 Croatia B 83.6 89.0
40 Bulgaria B 82.2 88.8
41 Mongolia B 81.1 96.8
42 Latvia B 81.0 82.3
43 Bahamas, The B 80.5 90.9
44 Estonia B 81.2 80.4
45 Lithuania B 80.4 87.9
46 Oman B 80.0 98.5
47 Uruguay B 79.9 87.6
48 Armenia B 79.7 98.7
49 Slovak Republic B 80.0 79.6
50 Moldova B 78.8 92.1
51 Brazil B 78.3 95.5
52 North Macedonia B 77.6 93.6
53 Colombia B 77.4 92.8
54 South Africa B 77.0 85.6
55 Dominican Republic B 76.9 83.8
56 Georgia B 75.8 91.2
57 Jordan B 75.8 89.8
58 Malaysia B 74.8 93.8
59 Türkiye B 74.4 95.1
60 Serbia B 74.1 89.4
61 Hungary B 74.0 79.6
62 Qatar B 73.9 98.5
63 Bahrain C 73.9 90.9
64 Indonesia C 73.7 91.0
65 Malawi C 73.2 84.4
66 China C 73.1 94.5
67 Namibia C 73.0 77.5
68 Morocco C 72.6 86.6
69 Saudi Arabia C 72.6 98.3
70 Philippines C 72.5 93.3
71 Botswana C 72.0 79.1
72 Ukraine C 71.8 92.9
73 Algeria C 71.7 86.9
74 Ghana C 71.3 87.6
75 Sri Lanka C 71.2 87.8
76 Suriname C 71.0 83.6
77 Rwanda C 70.7 84.2
78 Mexico C 70.6 93.9
79 Belarus C 69.7 94.4
80 Burkina Faso C 69.5 85.9
81 Russia C 69.4 95.7
82 Albania C 69.2 88.9
83 Togo C 68.9 81.0
84 Senegal C 68.5 82.2
85 Niger C 68.3 79.0
86 Lesotho C 68.0 77.9
87 Argentina C 67.9 94.2
88 Cote d'Ivoire C 67.9 82.5
89 El Salvador C 67.9 83.3
90 Benin C 67.6 82.7
91 India C 67.6 84.8
92 Guatemala D 67.4 90.9
93 Mauritania D 67.3 74.3
94 Uganda D 67.2 74.6
95 Kenya D 67.1 82.7
96 Pakistan D 66.3 79.1
97 Turkmenistan D 66.2 92.9
98 Comoros D 65.9 83.0
99 Kuwait D 65.9 100.0
100 Gambia D 65.4 79.0
101 Kyrgyzstan D 64.5 97.8
102 Mozambique D 64.2 79.6
103 Peru D 64.2 91.5
104 Tanzania D 63.9 70.4
105 Tunisia D 63.8 85.7
106 Paraguay D 63.6 79.7
107 Ecuador D 63.1 81.4
108 Kazakhstan D 63.0 95.0
109 Bosnia and Herzegovina D 62.3 85.1
110 Cameroon D 61.9 68.8
111 Eswatini D 61.7 81.1
112 Thailand D 61.7 95.1
113 Sierra Leone D 61.5 84.8
114 Zambia D 61.0 71.9
115 Uzbekistan D 60.7 68.5
116 Azerbaijan D 59.3 92.4
117 Panama D 59.0 90.0
118 Myanmar D 58.4 85.1
119 Egypt D 57.4 92.5
120 Nicaragua D 57.1 73.4
121 Tajikistan D 57.0 92.1
122 Vietnam D 56.8 91.8
123 Jamaica E 55.9 82.1
124 Guyana E 55.8 81.1
125 Bangladesh E 54.9 74.8
126 Liberia E 54.9 74.2
127 Bhutan E 54.7 88.2
128 Papua New Guinea E 53.7 64.8
129 Nigeria E 53.5 76.1
130 Haiti E 53.0 73.2
131 Laos E 52.7 81.7
132 Ethiopia E 52.3 58.7
133 Zimbabwe E 52.1 73.9
134 Guinea-Bissau E 51.5 69.1
135 Nepal E 51.5 81.5
136 Madagascar E 49.7 82.6
137 Guinea E 48.0 76.5
138 Burundi E 44.8 77.6
139 Chad E 44.6 66.2
140 Mali E 44.2 87.1
141 Angola E 41.9 68.0
142 Libya E 41.6 72.8
143 Congo, Rep. E 41.1 75.6
144 Cambodia E 40.8 84.4
145 Honduras E 40.7 83.9
146 Yemen, Rep. E 40.1 58.0
147 Central African Republic E 38.6 61.9
148 Congo, Dem. Rep E 37.1 47.2
149 Gabon E 36.6 79.1
150 Bolivia E 35.7 84.1
151 Sudan E 31.6 73.7
152 Afghanistan E 28.8 47.4
153 Lebanon E 65.7 28.7



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Data Quality Key

  • Data Quality Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100.
  • 0 = Poor, 100 = Excelent.
  • Grade definitions:
     A: As good as it gets
     B: Good
     C: Use with caution
     D: Poor
     E: Extremely poor quality