Global International Comparison Program based on Gross Domestic Product data for 2021 (ICP GDP 2021) is the largest international project with 176 participating countries for comparing GDPs and purchasing power parities (PPPs) of currencies.
ICP 2021 was carried out in accordance with the decision of the United Nations Statistical Commission. The overall coordination of the preparation and implementation of the comparison cycle was carried out by the World Bank in close partnership with international organizations and regional development banks across the world.
For the sake of efficiency, the comparison exercise under ICP 2021 was carried out on a regional basis. All participating countries were grouped into regions: CIS, a group of EU and OECD countries, Asia and the Pacific, West Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean countries.
In the ICP 2021 cycle, the Republic of Belarus participated as part of the CIS region among such countries as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In accordance with the decisions of the governing bodies of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the CIS Statistical Committee (CISSTAT) was the coordinator of comparison exercise in the region.
The key result of the International Comparison Program is the estimation of purchasing power parities (PPPs) for all the participants of the round and the conversion of GDP as a whole and its major components into a single currency. This forms the basis for detailed comparative studies of the size and structure of economies around the world. PPPs are widely used in analytical studies, to monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. PPP is the number of local currency units needed to purchase a standard set of goods and services that can be purchased for one currency unit of the reference country (or one common currency unit of a group of countries).
According to the results of the ICP GDP 2021, the size of the world economy in terms of PPP-based GDP of the participating countries was 152.4 trillion U.S. dollars compared to 96.2 trillion U.S. dollars measured at exchange rates. The world's two largest economies in 2021 were China and the United States of America, with PPP-based GDP of US$28.8 trillion and US$23.6 trillion respectively, accounting for a third of the world GDP (34.4%). India, the third largest economy (US$11 trillion), accounted for about 7.2% of the world GDP.
The top ten world economies in terms of PPP-based GDP after China, the United States and India also included such countries as the Russian Federation (US$5.7 trillion), Japan (US$5.6 trillion), Germany (US$5.2 trillion), Brazil (US$3.7 trillion), France (US$3.6 trillion), the United Kingdom and Indonesia (US$3.5 trillion each). In general, these countries, which are home to more than half (54.4%) of the world's population, account for 61.9% of the world GDP.
The PPP-based GDP of Belarus is equal to 256.9 billion U.S. dollars, the share of which is 0.2% of the world GDP and 3.5% of the GDP of the CIS region. The CIS countries account for 4.8% of the world GDP.
In 2021, high income economies accounted for almost half (46%) of the world PPP-based GDP, while upper middle income economies contributed just over a third (35%) of the world GDP. All the countries participating in the CIS ICP 2021, except Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, are part of the upper middle income group.
The average value of PPP-based GDP per capita for the world economies is 20,271 U.S. dollars. The variation for this indicator in the world is very large – from the highest income level in Luxembourg (US$137,948) to the lowest in Burundi (US$981).
Among the CIS countries, only four are above the world average in PPP-based GDP per capita: the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Azerbaijan. PPP-based GDP per capita of Belarus in 2021 was US$27,611.
The results of international comparisons of GDP based on purchasing power parities of currencies for 2021 are calculated by the World Bank and can be found in a detailed version on its website at https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/icp.
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