Income of United States, Japan, India, China, and Indonesia since 1500

by Catherine on January 27, 2008

in Country Growth from 1500, VE Infographics

I am comparing the GDP per Capita of the United States with Japan, India, China, and Indonesia over the last 500 years. (GDP per Capita for each country is in 1990 international Geary-Khamis dollars, calculated from purchasing power parities (PPPs) of currencies and average prices of commodities.)

{Click on the image to take a closer look}

Data estimates for population from Angus Maddison Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Economics, University of Groningen.

[tags]income, GDP per Capita, United States, China, India, Indonesia, Japan[/tags]

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Tagged as: Angus Maddison, Asia, China, East Asia, GDP, GDP per Capita, Income - Average, India, Indonesia, Japan, Line Graph, Median, Population, United States

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

1 DAH: A log scale on the Y axis would be more enlightening.

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2 brian: yeah, … i second the request for a log scale :-P. hardly useful without it.

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3 PG: Will be more enlightening if you do the comparison, in terms of PPP, because in the end for the common man thats what matters most.

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4 halbhh: Please use a log graph so as to enable seeing the recent moves for China et al more clearly. Also, please consider doing a graph since 1950 using real (normalized to inflation) numbers.

But, let me say, nice graph — makes me want more.

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5 ysdgfywgy: U guys suck whats the point of leaving a website that says its going to have the average income when it doesnt so Fuck u!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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6 John Lam: I can see a linear scale makes a more dramatic point, especially to those who don’t understand logarithms, but i also echo the call for a log scale. It lets us see blips in trends, and it’s simply more useful.

Maybe presenting a link or infographic on logarithms would help.

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7 John Lam: Indeed, presenting the data in log scale helps identify a trend, for the past 20 years the US and Japan have slowed while China, India, and Indonesia have accelerated.

Wolfram Alpha present me the quick graphic below:

I can see a linear scale makes a more dramatic point, especially to those who don’t understand logarithms, but a log scale lets us see blips in trends. That’s simply more useful, and gives a reason for folks to learn logarithms.

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8 John Lam: Darn, your Wordpress settings culled my graphic. Readers can simply click http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1017596/wolframalpha-20100729075113515.gif

John

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