Documentation

How the GMD is constructed: variables, conventions, and methodology.

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Technical appendix · GMD Version 2026_09

The primary reference: data sources, construction methods, and variable definitions behind the most recent release of the Global Macro Database.

How the data is built

The essentials in brief. Full detail is in the appendix and the FAQ.

Splicing & chain-linking

Many sources are joined by matching growth rates, not pasting levels, which avoids artificial jumps.

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Anchor year 2018

History before 2018 stays fixed across releases; recent years absorb new revisions.

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Base year 2015

Real and index variables are rebased to 2015 so levels are comparable across countries.

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Ratios in percent

All ratio variables (e.g. govdebt_GDP) are expressed in percent of GDP.

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Source priority

Modern official sources → reconstructed historical series → international aggregators.

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Quality review

Every series is visually inspected: over 4,000 plots checked for breaks and outliers.

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Reading variable names

Most variable codes are built from a few parts: an optional prefix, a core concept, and optional suffixes for the unit. Learn the parts once and you can read every code in the dataset.

rrealGDPconcept_pcper person_USDUS dollars

Real GDP per person, in US dollars

gen_general gov.govdebtconcept_GDP% of GDP

General government debt, in percent of GDP

Prefixes

`r`	Real, in constant 2015 prices	`rGDP` `rHPI`
`n`	Nominal, in current prices	`nGDP`
`gen_`	General government: central, state and local government plus social security	`gen_govrev`
`c`	Central government only	`cgovrev`
none	Other levels are nominal. For `gov…` variables, no prefix means the combined series with the widest coverage.	`exports` `govrev`

Suffixes

none	Level in millions of local currency	`cons`
`_GDP`	Ratio in percent of GDP	`cons_GDP`
`_USD`	Converted to US dollars, in millions	`cons_USD`
`_pc`	Per person, in local currency or, with `_USD`, in US dollars	`rGDP_pc`

Units at a glance

Millions of local currency

Levels without a suffix

nGDP exports M2

Millions of US dollars

Levels with _USD

nGDP_USD CA_USD

Percent of GDP

Ratios with _GDP

govdebt_GDP CA_GDP

Percent

Rates

infl unemp cbrate ltrate

Index, 2015 = 100

Price and exchange-rate indices

CPI deflator REER HPI

Special units

Local currency per US dollar; millions of people

USDfx pop

Other columns in the data file

countryname ISO3 year: Identify each row.
income_group: World Bank income group: low, lower middle, upper middle or high income.
BankingCrisis CurrencyCrisis SovDebtCrisis: 1 in a crisis year, 0 otherwise. Blank where not recorded.
forecast_code: 1 if that variable's value in the row is a projection, for example forecast_nGDP.

Look up a code

Documentation by variable

Click a variable to open its PDF: the raw underlying sources, the final GMD series, the splice points between sources, and notes on adjustments.

National accounts

nGDP Nominal GDP rGDP Real GDP

Consumption & investment

cons Total consumption hcons Household consumption gcons Government consumption inv Gross capital formation finv Gross fixed capital formation

External sector

exports Exports imports Imports CA_GDP Current account (% GDP) REER Real effective exchange rate USDfx USD exchange rate

Government finances

cgovdebt_GDP Central gov. debt cgovdef_GDP Central gov. deficit cgovexp_GDP Central gov. expenditure cgovrev_GDP Central gov. revenue cgovtax_GDP Central gov. tax gen_govdebt_GDP General gov. debt gen_govdef_GDP General gov. deficit gen_govexp_GDP General gov. expenditure gen_govrev_GDP General gov. revenue gen_govtax_GDP General gov. tax

Money & interest rates

M0 M1 M2 M3 M4 cbrate Central bank policy rate strate Short-term rate ltrate Long-term rate

Prices & labor

CPI Consumer price index infl Inflation HPI House price index unemp Unemployment rate pop Population

Documentation by country

Per-country PDFs show which underlying sources were used, for which period, and how the series were spliced together.

Pick a country from the list, then open its documentation PDF. To see the data itself, browse the country pages.