Economic growth of a nation is the measure of change in productive capacity of a nation over time. Gross Domestic Product is a representative indicator for monetary value of produced goods and services. Economic growth is generally measured as a percentage change in GDP overtime. Per capita income indicates average income of people and obtained by dividing GDP by population (Bernanke, Antonovics & Frank, 2015). This reflects the average standard of living of the nation.
The paper aims to the economic growth of four chosen countries namely Canada, Nigeria, France and Japan. Country specific analysis as well as comparative analysis is conducted considering two major macroeconomic indicator- GDP and Per capita GDP.
Canada is situated in North America, specifically to the northern part. The geographic boundary of the nation extended from Atlantic to Pacific and to the north it is extended to Arctic ocean. It is the second largest nation by area. As per 2016 census, the present population is 35151728 (imf.org 2016).
Situated in West Africa, Nigeria is one of the key regional players. The nation account approximately 47 percent of total population in West Africa. At present, the nation has nearly 184 million inhabitants (worldbank.org, 2018). Being a nation rich with natural resources Nigeria is the biggest oil exporter of Africa.
France, officially known as French Republic is located in western Europe. The geographical boundary of France extends from Mediterranean Sea to English Channel and to the North Sea and from Rhine to Atlantic Ocean. The country covers an area of 643,801 square kilometers. Living population in France as recorded in 2017 is 67.15 million (imf.org 2016).
Japan is an East Asian country. It is situated in the island chain in between Sea of Japan and North Pacific Ocean. The nation extends along with pacific coast of Asia. Russia is the closest neighboring country of Japan. Total area of Japan is 377, 915 square kilometers (worldbank.org, 2018).
In 2015, the estimated growth for global economy was 3.1. The growth rate was expected to reach at 3.4 percent in 2016 and to 3.6 percent in 2017 The global economic activity is expected to pick up at a faster rate mainly due to progress of developing and emerging markets.
In this section country specific analysis is conducted for the four chosen country separately. The variable considered are GDP and per capita GDP. Each indicator is further evaluated in terms of absolute value, percentage change or growth and average change.
Canada
GDP Analysis
1980-1999
2000-2016
Analysis of GDP growth
1980-1999
2000-2016
Average GDP growth
Per Capita GDP
1980-1999
2000-2016
Per Capita GDP growth
1980-1999
2000-2016
Average Per capita GDP growth
GDP Analysis
1980-1999
2000-2016
GDP growth
1980-1999
2000-2016
Average GDP growth
Per capita GDP
1980-1999
2000-2016
Per capita GDP growth
1980-1999
2000-2016
Average Per capita GDP growth
GDP Analysis
1980-1999
2000-2016
GDP growth
1980-1999
2000-2016
Average GDP growth
Per capita GDP
1980-1999
2000-2016
Per capita GDP growth
1980-1999
2000-2016
Average Per capita GDP growth
GDP Analysis
1980-1999
2000-2016
GDP growth
1980-1999
2000-2016
Average GDP growth
Per capita GDP
1980-1999
2000-2016
Per capita GDP growth
1980-1999
2000-2016
Average Per capita GDP growth
For Canada, Gross Domestic Product for the decades 1980 -1999 has shown more or less upward rising trend. GDP reached to a slightly low level between 1993 and 1994. However, from 1995 onwards GDP recovers and continues to increase. The highest growth rate in GDP is occurred in 1988. The lowest growth rate was accounted in 2009 with the rate being -11.49%. For the next two decades, 2000-2016, GDP shows a continuous rising trend from 2000 to 2008. GDP drops suddenly in 2009. GDP gradually recovers from 2010. However, recently GDP has fallen slightly recording a decline in the growth rate. The per capita GDP moves in line with GDP and shows a nearly similar trend. For the decades 1980-1989 and 2000-2009, the per capita income of Canada exceeds that of World’s average income. In Nigeria, the GDP trend is quite fluctuating. Between 1980 -1999, the lowest growth rate was in 1993 and highest growth rate was in 1995. During this time, average income in Nigeria had a similar trend like GDP. From 2010- 2014, GDP in Nigeria rises at faster rate and consequently per capita GDP constitutes a sharp upward trend. In the last two year GDP has declined pulling down the nation’s average income. GDP in Japan has risen continuously from 1980-1995. Following the outbreak of Asian financial crisis, GDP started declining. In terms to average growth rate the most prosperous decade for Japan is 1980-1989. During this time the average growth rate was higher than world’s average. The growth rate in GDP is very much fluctuating from 2000 to 2016. In the decade 2010-2016 the average growth rate was negative. In terms of GDP growth rate, the period of prosperity for France is the decade 2000-2009. During this time average GDP growth was close to world’s average.
In this section a comparative analysis is made among the four countries. The economic scenario of the for nation are then compared with world GDP and average income.
The trend in GDP growth for Canada is aligned with world’s average GDP growth rate. For Japan and France GDP growth has revealed a similar pattern. Growth pattern of Nigeria has differed from the three other nations and that of world’s average trend. One surprising growth trend is observed for Nigeria in the decade 2010-2016. In 2016, the average growth of Nigeria was exceptionally higher than the three nation and exceed that of the world average. The world’s average growth rate in the decade 1980-1989 was 7.47%. During this decade the average growth of Canada and Japan exceed the world’s average while in Nigeria and France average growth was lower than world’s average. The growth rate of Nigeria continuous to exceed world’s average for the last three decades. The average growth in Canada has fallen continuously while that of Nigeria’s has risen gradually. Both Japan and France has faced a negative growth rate in the ongoing decade (2010-2016). Per capita GDP in Nigeria has increased at a rapid rate while in Japan and Canada it has decreased overtime.
Canada and France though both belong to Eurozone has a different pattern of growth. The decade of 1980s was quite prosperous for Canada. The growth rate was higher than global average growth. The performance went down significantly in the decade of 1990s. Growth performance of nation again exceeds world’s average during 2000-2009. The average growth performance of Nigeria is quite impressing. The average decadal growth rate has remained at a significantly higher level except in the decade 1980-1989. The decadal growth rate has declined gradually in Japan. In 1980- 1989 the nation had a standard average growth rate. Japan now has a negative growth rate. The average growth rate of France has improved gradually. The growth is line with world’s average during 2000-2009. The average growth rate from 2000-2016 was negative.
Among the four chosen nations, initially the highest average GDP growth is observed in Japan followed by Canada, France and Nigeria. However, with passes of time Nigeria has made a considerable progress in terms of GDP growth rate leaving the three other nations behind. A similar pattern is observed for per capita GDP as well. Overtime average income growth of Canada exceeds growth of three nations and even world’s average.
In recent year, Canada has accounted a growth rate of 3.1% (bdc.ca, 2018). The nation has successfully overcome the oil price shocks that significantly hampered economic growth in the past few years. The recovery has mainly contributed from expansion of broad sectors of the economy (Cantillo & Zepeda, 2016). The good export in Canada has accounted a growth rate of 8.7%. Along with this business investment has also improved. Along with the growth, the nation has also achieved nearly a state of full employment.
The main macroeconomic aspiration of Nigeria is to alter the structure of consumption and production pattern with an objective of diversifying economic base. The Nation has aimed at reducing its dependence on oil to achieve an inclusive, sustainable and non-inflationary growth rate. Since 1999, Nigeria has experienced a considerable growth rate. The growth rate is even higher than some of the European nation (Agri, Inusa & Kennedy, 2016). However, the nation is yet to achieve the targeted reduction in poverty and unemployment.
At present, France is experiencing a stagnant growth rate imposing fiscal challenges for the government. Since 2011, the GDP of France has remained almost same. A significant factor contributing to rising public debt is debt resulted from country’s external sector. At present, France has become a net importer (Bystrov, Yusim & Curtis, 2017).
The global financial crisis occurred in 2007-2008, had a significant adverse impact on the economy of France. Prior to that Japan was one of the fastest growing nation of Asia. After the crisis hit the shock however spread across different economic sectors hurting the economic growth. The economy is recovering at a slow pace. Due to weak domestic demand the has to rely on its export demand (Francks & Francks, 2015). The foreign investment is playing an important role in improving state of growth for the economy.
Section 5: Conclusion
The paper summarizes growth performance of four nations over the four decades. Both GDP and per capita GDP has taken to analyze the macroeconomic performance of the four nations. It has been observed that though in terms of absolute GDP Nigeria lag behind the three other nations but in terms of growth rate the nation is far ahead of others. This implies that the nation is progressing at a faster rate to catch up with European and Asian countries. Nigeria has achieved a significant growth rate by widening its economic base. France, Japan and Canada on the other hand has hurt by financial crisis in 2008. The global crisis had slowed down economic growth of these nations. The nations are now at a phase of slow recovery.
Reference list
Agri, E. M., Inusa, M. L. D., & Kennedy, N. D. (2016). Impact of Oil Price Volatility on Macroeconomic Variables and Sustainable Development in Nigeria. International Journal of Economics and Financial Research, 2(2), 33-40.
Bernanke, B., Antonovics, K., & Frank, R. (2015). Principles of macroeconomics. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Bystrov, A. V., Yusim, V. N., & Curtis, T. (2017). ‘Macroconstants of development’: a new benchmark for the strategic development of advanced countries and firms. International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 18(2), 167-181.
Cantillo, M. V. S., & Zepeda, E. (2016). Achieving sustainable development: Investment and macroeconomic challenges. United Nations Series on Development, 115-150.
Francks, P., & Francks, P. (2015). Japanese economic development: theory and practice. Routledge.
IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update, January 2016:. (2018). Imf.org. Retrieved 17 March 2018, from https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2016/update/01/
Outlook, 2. (2018). 2018 Economic outlook for the Canadian economy. BDC. Retrieved 17 March 2018, from https://www.bdc.ca/en/blog/pages/2018-economic-outlook-global-growth-brings-good-news-canadian-entrepreneurs.aspx
Overview. (2018). World Bank. Retrieved 17 March 2018, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nigeria/overview
Data Source
GDP growth (annual %) | Data. (2018). Data.worldbank.org. Retrieved 17 March 2018, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
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