Twenty-Five Years of Economic Development, 1950 to 1975

The aim of this study is to analyze the success of economic development in developing countries over the past quarter century. The study does not attempt to survey the history of ideas about development, nor does it try to identify patterns of development and structural change. The detailed country-level data on which the summary text tables are based are presented in the tables in the Statistical Appendix. Estimates of gross national product per capita in developing countries must be treated with caution. The use of exchange rates rather than purchasing-power parities to convert estimates in national currencies to a single common denominator seriously overstates the real income gap separating rich and poor nations. The bias inherent in the conventional figures is indeed substantial. To minimize distortions resulting from the use of conventional gross national product measurements, an attempt is made in this study to complement the analysis of growth rates in gross national product per capita with evaluations of progress on other, more tangible indicators such as supply of nutrition, life expectancy, and literacy wherever this is possible.