Difference between Nominal GNP and Real GNP, What is implicit price deflator for GNP
Inflation or
deflation complicates GNP because GNP is a price times-quantity figure. The
changes either in the price level or the change in output produced may affect the
size of GNP. Then there rises a distinction between nominal GNP and real GNP.
The nominal GNP is the representation of GNP in monetary terms while the real
GNP is the representation of GNP in quantity or physical terms. Broadly, the
nominal or current price GNP measures the value output at the prices prevailing
in the period during which the output is produced. While the real GNP or
constant price GNP measures the output produced in any period at the prices of
some base year. Real GNP which values the output produced in different years at
the same prices implies an estimate of the real or physical change in
production or output between any specified years. If we assume 2000 as a base
year, it will serve as the base year for real output measurement. US nominal GNP
was $4864 billion in 1988 and it was $1598 billion in 1975.
Thus nominal GNP grew at
an average rate of 8.9% during the period 1975 – 1988. While if we measure the
value of output produced in a year say 1990 on the prices of a given year say
1982 this will be a case of real GNP. US real GNP was $3996 billion in
1988 and $2695 billion in 1975. This shows that real grew at an average of 3.1%
per year over the period. If we divide real GNP by the population of 246 million
people in 1988 in the US i.e. we divide $3996 billion by 246 million population we
get per capita real GNP which was $1644 per member of the population.
From the above
figures, we see that in the US nominal GNP has risen much more rapidly than real
GNP. The increase in nominal incomes as compared to real income is attributed
to inflation. The difference in the growth rate of the nominal GNP (8.9%) and the real
GNP (3.1%) represents inflation (5.8%). In other words, the nominal
increase in GNP is due to price-like inflation.
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