Question

Difficulty: MediumReal vs Nominal National Income and Per Capita Income

In a given year, a country recorded a Nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $500 billion\$500\text{ billion}. The GDP deflator for the year was 125125 (with a base year index of 100100), and the total population was 50 million50\text{ million}. What was the Real Per Capita Income of the country in dollars?

Answer: 8000 dollars

Answer

The Real Per Capita Income of the country is $8,000.
To compute the Real Per Capita Income, Nominal GDP is first converted to Real GDP using the GDP deflator: $500 billion125×100=$400 billion\frac{\$500\text{ billion}}{125} \times 100 = \$400\text{ billion}. Dividing this real income figure by the population of 50 million50\text{ million} gives an average real per capita income of $8,000\$8,000.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Deflate Nominal GDP to obtain Real GDP
Real GDP = $400 billion
Real GDP removes the inflationary effect measured by the GDP deflator.
2
Divide Real GDP by the population size
Real Per Capita Income = $8,000
Per capita real income measures average real economic output per person.

Key Concept

Real GDP and Per Capita Income Derivation
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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