A new column on VoxEU is online, discussing the new version of the Maddison Project Database, which was released two weeks ago. The key innovation is to distinguish two series for real GDP per capita, one best suited for comparing income levels across countries, the other for charting growth over time. This distinction is qualitatively important and is relevant for several applications, such as the estimation of cross-country income convergence.

The database development and accompanying paper and column have been written by Jutta Bolt, Robert Inklaar, Herman de Jong and Jan Luiten van Zanden, but has relied on the efforts and input of the entire Maddison Project Board.