Reliability and Validity of GDP Time Series in Asia

Abstract: There is much literature on the topic of statistical comparability of African countries. However, the focus on Africa has left an information gap for other regions. This paper aims to fill some of that gap by comparing GDP data on Asian countries from some of the most frequently used datasets. Additionally, by comparing the base years and versions of the system of national accounts of Asian countries, an indication of the comparability of their national accounts is acquired. It is concluded that although the general comparability between the datasets is good, there are cases of large differences that can cause data users to come to different conclusions depending on what dataset is being used. To find and reduce the impact of these cases, it is recommended to cross-compare the datasets and, in the case of growth rates, average longer periods when possible. It is also found that the quality of Asian countries’ statistics can vary substantially and therefore caution is advised when comparing countries. Finally, an improvement to the World Bank’s statistical capacity indicator is suggested since it would have great benefits for data users.