Averages and Growth Rates

The World bank uses a wide range of average numbers and growth rates for different purposes. An average is a single value within a range of data, used to represent all the values in the series, it is a measure of the central value or the central tendency. A growth rate can also be a measure of central tendency, e.g., least squares growth rate of GDP over a period is a measure of trend.

We will first give a short description of the different types of averages and other measures of central tendency, give some hints for when or for what purpose it would be appropriate to use each of them, and show the relationship between them. Secondly, we will describe the different growth rates and their uses.