Skip to content

CoolStatsBlog

Abbas Keshvani's plain English blog

  • Home
  • Abbas Keshvani

Tag: World Bank

How Countries Fare, 2010

The Current Account Balance is a measure of a country’s “profitability”. It is the sum of profits (losses) made from trading with other countries, profits (losses) made from investments in other countries, and cash transfers, such as remittances from expatriates.

World: Current Account Balance, 2010
World: Current Account Balance, 2010

As the infographic shows, there isn’t much middle ground when it comes to a current account balance. Most countries have:

  • large deficits (America, most of Europe, Australia, Brazil, India)
  • large surpluses (China, most of Southeast Asia, Northern European countries, Russia, Gulf oil producers).

There are a few countries with

  • small deficits (most Central American states, Pakistan)
  • small surpluses (most Baltics)

…but they are largely outnumbered by the clear winners and losers of world trade.

The above is not a per-capita infographic, so larger countries tend to be clear winners or losers, while smaller countries are more likely to straddle the divide. Here is the per-capita Current Account Balance map:

World: Current Account Balance per capita, 2010
World: Current Account Balance per capita, 2010

This can be interpreted as how much people around the world earn from eachother:

  • Anglophones (people in America, Canada, UK, Australia) chock up some of the biggest deficits, as do people in the Mediterranean
  • Oil producers (Saudis, Libyans, Norwegians) profit the most off trade, as do industrious Germans and Japanese. I sense an automobile theme
  • Most of us are somewhere in the middle
  • Records: Icelanders have the biggest deficits, Singaporeans the biggest surpluses

On the topic of English-speakers running deficits, here is a recent BBC article that explores the link between the English language and the act of saving money.

2010 Current Account Balance and Population data from World Bank; graphics produced on R.

Abbas Keshvani

Advertisement
Abbas Keshvani Economics 7 Comments August 31, 2013September 2, 2013 1 Minute
Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • CoolStatsBlog
    • Join 56 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • CoolStatsBlog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...