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No Country Is Average

Six economic dimensions across twelve economies, 2023

Unit
Percent (per axis)
Frequency
Annual snapshot
Coverage
2023
Evidence Quality
High

Twelve economies, six macro dimensions at once — no line sits in the middle of every axis.

IMF World Economic Outlook, Apr 2024 · NGDP_RPCH, PCPI_PCH, GGXWDG_NGDP, BCA_NGDPD

Six macro dimensions · each axis scaled to its own range

Each axis is normalised independently, so vertical position is comparable within an axis but not across them.

01

Question

When you look at six macro indicators at once, do economies cluster into types — or is every profile unique?

02

Evidence

Each line traces one economy across growth, inflation, debt, external balance, trade openness and unemployment. Economies that look alike on one axis diverge sharply on the next: there is no single line that sits in the middle of every axis.

03

Observation

Read each line across the axes; where lines cross, a trade-off lives.

Each vertical axis is scaled to its OWN range, so a crossing between two lines marks a trade-off, not a shared level. Read the shape of a line, not its height on any one axis.

04

Assessment

  • Japan is the clearest paradox: near-zero growth and the highest public debt in the set (263%), yet the lowest unemployment (2.6%).
  • Openness and balance travel together at the top — the Netherlands runs both the largest current-account surplus (+7.7%) and the highest trade openness (156% of GDP).
  • Two structural outliers bend the field: South Africa on unemployment (32.9%) and Russia, which pairs the fastest growth here with the lowest debt (22%).
05

Advantage