Regional : 2020 International Comparison Program for Asia and the Pacific

Public sector management / Economic affairs management

There is an increasing demand from stakeholders for more frequent PPP-based comparable measures of economic output of economies which are free from price and exchange rate distortions. The PPPs obtained through the ICP are used for direct comparisons of indicators of well-being such as GDP per capita or expenditures, per capita on health, education, and housing, etc., and thus allow cross country real comparisons of price levels, and standards of living and wellbeing. The PPPs for household consumption have been the main inputs for deriving the International Poverty Line (IPL) and updating poverty headcounts used for monitoring targets on global and regional poverty associated with the SDG agenda. Currently the IPL set at $ 1.90 per day is based on 2011 ICP PPPs. Apart from the use of the PPPs for monitoring poverty, there are other PPP-based indicators in the SDG framework that are used to monitor income inequality, energy intensity, labor productivity, CO2 emissions per unit of GDP, etc. ADB's policy paper ADB Corporate Results Framework, 20192024' is aligned with the SDG agenda and includes indicators which track development progress in Asia and the Pacific and whose measurement depends on PPPs. Other examples of international organizations making uses of PPPs include Human Development Index by United Nations Development Programme, assessment of per capita expenditures in education by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; and calculation of Special Drawing Rights and voting power of a member country by the International Monetary Fund, formula for which includes GDP in PPP terms among other variables. ICP's principles and methods are now being used by some economies to produce sub-national PPPs for undertaking sub-national comparisons of standards of living within a country.

The UNSC endorsed the ICP global comparisons as a permanent element of the global statistical work program in March 2016. The UNSC also endorsed a shortened interval between ICP benchmark rounds and the conduct of subsequent benchmark ICP rounds in a cycle of three years starting 2017. Having shorter intervals between ICP benchmark rounds is expected to provide direct price comparisons more frequently. ICP is a multilateral exercise, which is implemented with collaborative participation of national statistical agencies, regional agencies, and international development partners with shared responsibilities in data collection, validation, and processing; and estimation of PPPs and other economic aggregates. This governance framework with actors at the national, regional, and global levels makes ICP a unique global statistical initiative that has successfully led to the implementation of 2005, 2011, and ongoing 2017 ICP rounds.

Utilization of comparable macroeconomic statistics in policymaking and research enhanced

Comparability of macroeconomic aggregates for the ADB member economies in Asia and the Pacific improved

ICP Asia Pacific Regional Governance Framework Established

ICP survey tools developed and price surveys conducted.

ICP knowledge products delivered.

Statistical capacity of participating NIAs developed and strengthened