How to find the average income of a country?

Hi, I'm writing a biology report, but I thought that this may be the best section to ask this question :tongue:

I'm a little confused with things like GDP/capita, GNI... I'm looking for a recent figure for the average salary in the UK, so far I have http://data.worldbank.org/country/united-kingdom, but I just wanted to check that it was the right value :smile:

Thanks

Reply 1

TheWorldEndsWithMe

Looks about right.
Average income is total income/population for future reference.

Reply 2

teamnoether

Wolfram Alpha knows all things. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=gdp+per+capita+uk I know it's in USD, but you can get it to convert that for you.

Reply 3

michaelhaych

The nominal GDP per capita is $39,459.

The UK makes $2.472 trillion per year and there are approximately 62,262,000 people in the country. 2.472 trillion divided by 62,262,000 = 39,459. The figure quoted in that article is the GDP per capita of the UK

GDP per capita is not a measure of personal income, more a measure of the standard of living within a country a many people within a country will be under 15 or over 65 (and therefore unable to work.)

from wikipedia:
"GDP per capita is not a measurement of the standard of living in an economy. However, it is often used as such an indicator, on the rationale that all citizens would benefit from their country's increased economic production. Similarly, GDP per capita is not a measure of personal income. GDP may increase while real incomes for the majority decline. The major advantage of GDP per capita as an indicator of standard of living is that it is measured frequently, widely, and consistently. It is measured frequently in that most countries provide information on GDP on a quarterly basis, allowing trends to be seen quickly. It is measured widely in that some measure of GDP is available for almost every country in the world, allowing inter-country comparisons. It is measured consistently in that the technical definition of GDP is relatively consistent among countries.
The major disadvantage is that it is not a measure of standard of living. GDP is intended to be a measure of total national economic activity—a separate concept."

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 4

Patriot Rich

You don't want GDP/GNI per capita. It is the total output divided by the number of people, which sounds all very well, but it includes the entire of the population (even children for example), and is not a measure of wages, just output which doesn't have a direct affect on income necessarily.
Use median income if you can find it. It only takes into the account the workforce and is not skewed by the very wealthy.

According to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_in_the_United_Kingdom

The median income in the UK was £20801/$32826
This is significantly lower than the GDP per capita of $39459 so it's important not to get them confused.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 5

MedicalMayhem

Original post by TheWorldEndsWithMe

Looks about right.
Average income is total income/population for future reference.

Okay thanks :smile:

Original post by teamnoether

Wolfram Alpha knows all things. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=gdp+per+capita+uk I know it's in USD, but you can get it to convert that for you.

Problem is that we can't use sites like Wiki, Wolfram Alpha and etc for our sources, do you know where I could find a more credible site? Would the one posted in the original post be acceptable?

Original post by michaelhaych

I've tried places like World Bank/IMF (I just need a credible source), do you know where I could find a website with that data?

Original post by Patriot Rich

Okay, I'll try search for median income. Do you think IMF/World bank will have it? Thanks! :biggrin:

Reply 6

teamnoether

Original post by MedicalMayhem

Problem is that we can't use sites like Wiki, Wolfram Alpha and etc for our sources, do you know where I could find a more credible site? Would the one posted in the original post be acceptable?

I would say that the World Bank is definitely a credible source. (Also, I'm sure it isn't your fault that you can't use Wolfram Alpha, but it has something like 20 sources at the bottom of the page for its data. Sometimes I think people are silly about what's "credible". :smile:

)

If you want mean household income, you can find it here:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7071611.stm.

Hopefully that's helpful.

Reply 7

MagicNMedicine

Original post by MedicalMayhem

Okay, I'll try search for median income. Do you think IMF/World bank will have it? Thanks! :biggrin:

If it is data for the UK then the best source is the Office for National Statistics

The 2011 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings has median gross annual earnings as £26,200, there is more of a breakdown on the pdf link on the right hand side.

Reply 8

MedicalMayhem

Original post by teamnoether

)

If you want mean household income, you can find it here:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7071611.stm.

Hopefully that's helpful.

Original post by MagicNMedicine

If it is data for the UK then the best source is the Office for National Statistics

[URL="http://www.ons.gov.uk:80/ons/rel/ashe/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings/ashe-results-2011/ashe-statistical-bulletin-2011.html"]The 2011 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings

has median gross annual earnings as £26,200, there is more of a breakdown on the pdf link on the right hand side.

Thanks very much! I was using that website "office for national statistics" and just got a bit lost! Thanks everyone :smile: