By Reitze Gouma – Research Associate at The Productivity Institute
The Penn World Table (PWT) has been a standard data source on differences in standards of living across countries, for over four decades. The latest release, version 10.01, provides data for 183 countries for the period 1950-2019. In a previous blog-post, we have given an overview of the history of PWT, and the features that make it well suited to make cross-country comparisons of productivity and welfare. We also provided two example analyses to show how this dataset can help us gain insights into the causes of cross-country income and productivity differences. In this blog we focus on the updated PWT query portal that allows users to easily access and download the data.
The Penn World Table online data access tool
The PWT database is available in STATA and Excel spreadsheet data files that can be downloaded through the DataverseNL platform for research data. However, to make the information more accessible and to allow users to download custom selections of the dataset, the PWT data can also be accessed through an online data access tool.
In the spring of 2024 the PWT development team launched an updated query tool to replace the previous data access portal. It includes the following features:
Choropleth visualizations
For the period 1970-2019, each country on the world map is coloured according to their value of Output-side real GDP at current PPPs, to compare relative productivity capacity across countries.
Thematic select
This option allows users to create custom selections of the dataset. Users can choose any or multiple of the 183 countries, 41 variables, and 70 years available in the dataset and click ‘Submit’. The selection of the data is rendered in an interactive table, which can be sorted, inspected, and downloaded in a CSV format. Selecting the countries, variables, and years can be done by clicking on their names in the dropdown list, or by typing the name in the selection box.
Quickstart queries
The Quickstart queries dropdown menu is a user-friendly feature that offers a variety of pre-filled data selections tailored for specific use cases. Each option in the dropdown is designed to quickly generate relevant data tables. The overview table below, sourced from the Penn World Table (PWT) webpage, provides detailed explanations and contexts for each pre-filled selection. This table acts as a guide, helping users understand the purpose and applications of each query option, thus enhancing the usability of the Quickstart tool.
Selective data access
| Query | Variable Name and Use | Example |
| RGDPNA | Real GDP using national-accounts growth rates, for studies comparing (output-based) growth rates across countries | Dependent variable in (cross-country) growth regressions |
| CGDPe | Expenditure-side real GDP at current PPPs, to compare relative living standards across countries at a single point in time | Initial level in growth regressions requiring relative living standards |
| CGDPo | Output-side real GDP at current PPPs, to compare relative productive capacity across countries at a single point in time | Initial level in growth regressions requiring productive capacity or productivity |
| RGDPe | Expenditure-side real GDP at chained PPPs, to compare relative living standards across countries and over time | Living standards of China today compared to the US at some point in the past |
| RGDPo | Output-side real GDP at chained PPPs, to compare relative productive capacity across countries and over time | Productive capacity of China today compared to the US at some point in the past |
| DA | Development accounting, the sources of differences in living standards at a point in time | Is the US richer because of more inputs, higher productivity, or both? |
| GA | Growth accounting, the sources of economic growth over time | Analysis of the sources of economic growth over time |
| Notes: Real GDP variables are in (millions) of US dollars, not in per-capita terms. A population variable (acronym pop), which can be used to convert GDP into per-capita terms, is included in the relevant queries. | ||
