Third Annual Conference on the theme of "Fiscal Policies and the Green Economy Transition: Generating Knowledge – Creating Impact" held at the University of Venice from 29 through 30 January 2015. The press release is available.

The OECD’s Annual Meeting at Ministerial Level reinforced member governments’ support across a broad range of key OECD work.

The leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies today endorsed overhauled global standards proposed by the OECD to crack down on tax evasion and reaffirmed the organisation’s central role in helping governments ensure strong, sustainable and inclusive growth.

Governments should use tax policy to drive forward economic agendas that seek to boost growth while sharing the benefits more evenly within society, according to a new OECD report.

While fiscal consolidation was the key driver of tax reforms in the years+33 following the global economic crisis, the main emphasis of recent tax reforms has shifted back to tax measures aimed at boosting economic growth, according to a new OECD report.

The effect of the size and mix of public spending on growth and inequality

Using fiscal levers to escape the low-growth trap

Malaysia has followed a comparatively equitable development path, largely eliminating absolute poverty and greatly reduced ethnic inequality.

Tax revenues in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries continued to increase in 2015, according to new data from the annual Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean publication. The average tax-to-GDP ratio for LAC countries reached 22.8% of GDP in 2015, up from 22.2% in 2014.

Costa Rica has made significant economic and social progress over the last decades. Real GDP per capita continues to increase at rates which outperform many other Latin American and OECD countries. But while living standards and well-being have increased, tax reforms are essential now to ensure the sustainable development of Costa Rica’s economy, according to a new OECD report.

Countries have continued the trend towards implementing tax policy reforms as part of wider strategies to boost growth, with a growing focus on reducing inequalities and driving behavioural change, according to a new report from the OECD.

Today, the OECD published a new set of bilateral exchange relationships established under the Common Reporting Standard Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (CRS MCAA) which for the first time includes activations by Panama. The OECD also released the second edition of the Common Reporting Standard Implementation Handbook.

The taxation of personal savings and wealth varies widely, offering governments significant scope for tax reforms that simultaneously improve both the efficiency and fairness of their tax systems, according to two new OECD reports.

Indonesia’s government needs more revenue to fund spending that can boost GDP growth, raise well-being and reduce poverty.

Investment in intangible assets has become an increasingly important driver of productivity growth in OECD countries.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Iraq contracted 1 percent in 2018 from the previous year. GDP Annual Growth Rate in Iraq averaged 7.04 percent from 1991 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 54.16 percent in 2004 and a record low of -56.40 percent in 1991. In Iraq, oil extraction is the most important sector of the economy and accounts for 55 percent of GDP. The services sector constitutes 33 percent of the output. Within services the largest segments are: community, social and personal services (13 percent of GDP); finance, insurance and real estate services (9 percent) and wholesale and retail trade and restaurants and hotels (7 percent). Manufacturing, construction and water and electricity production and distribution account for 8 percent of the wealth and agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing for the remaining 4 percent. This page provides - Iraq GDP Annual Growth Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Gambia expanded 5.40 percent in 2019 from the previous year. GDP Annual Growth Rate in Gambia averaged 3.77 percent from 1968 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 12.39 percent in 1975 and a record low of -8.10 percent in 2011. Gambia, the smallest country in continental Africa, is one of the poorest nations in the world. Over 60 percent of population live below poverty line and the country depends on regular foreign aid to balance its budget. The main sector of the economy is agriculture, 75 percent of population depend on crops and livestock. In recent years, Gambia’s economy has been steadily growing due to development of tourism, inflow of remittances and re-exports. And the government is trying to keep the pace of expansion by undertaking reforms focusing on the modernization of the agriculture. This page provides - Gambia GDP Annual Growth Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

GDP Growth Annualized in Japan decreased to -7.10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 from 0.10 percent in the third quarter of 2019. GDP Growth Annualized in Japan averaged 1.98 percent from 1980 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 12.90 percent in the fourth quarter of 1989 and a record low of -17.80 percent in the first quarter of 2009. GDP Annualized Growth Rate shows the gdp growth that would be registered if the quarter-on-quarter rate of change were maintained for a full year. This page provides the latest reported value for - Japan GDP Growth Annualized - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

G20 governments should prevent further deterioration in their collective trade and investment policy stance and focus on promoting open markets to re-boot growth in the world economy, according to the OECD, WTO and UNCTAD.

Governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) should create urgently needed jobs for the 2.5 million people entering the labour market each year and improve their policies to encourage women’s entrepreneurship in order to reduce structural unemployment, says a new OECD report.

The current Polish framework for fighting foreign bribery is still inadequate to fully meet foreign bribery risks resulting from Poland’s growing economy, says a new OECD report.

Global value chains (GVCs) have become a dominant feature of world trade and investment, offering new prospects for growth, development and jobs, according to a new joint report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The 2013 Forum was held on 5-6 December and discussed how governments can improve their investment policy framework to reduce the risk and attract long-term private finance in support of green growth.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría blogs about international investment treaties at a time when they are increasingly in the spotlight.

The G20 needs to go structural, social, and green! With fiscal and monetary policy room nearly exhausted, structural reforms are the best choices, sometimes the only choice. The OECD battle cry in this regard has been unchanged since 2008: “go structural!”.

We therefore need a “copernician” change in our approach to the growth – inequality nexus: let’s not think growth first, and inequality thereafter but let’s consider both of them, together, in their circularity. In other words, let’s think “Inclusive Growth”, right from the start, and let’s make it another touchstone of our efforts and complement the Pittsburgh tryptic of strong, sustainable and balanced growth!

This year’s OECD Ministerial Council Meeting, which we are honoured to chair, will address the issue of investment. The timing could not be better. Growth prospects have improved, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Investment has been hit especially hard since the crisis started and has yet to recover.

The OECD’s Annual Meeting at Ministerial Level reinforced member governments’ support across a broad range of key OECD work.

Mounting fears of another slowdown in the global economy call for bolder policy responses. Trade and investment are a case in point. The latest WTO forecasts suggest 2015 will be the fourth year running that global trade volumes grow less than 3%, barely at—or below—the rate of GDP growth. Before

Further structural reforms are needed to help the business sector boost productivity growth and overcome the key challenges of sluggish investment in advanced economies and excess capacity in emerging economies, according to a new OECD report.

Leaders of the G20 countries meeting at their Summit in Hangzhou, China, have called on the OECD to help develop an agenda to build a stronger, more innovative and inclusive world economy.

17 October 2016, Paris: The G20 Chinese Presidency, the UK and the OECD jointly organised a Seminar on “Corruption and Economic Growth”. Expert panellists recognised the negative impact of corruption on economic growth and society at both the macro and micro level, and stressed the importance of strong political leadership in fighting corruption.

The slowdown in productivity growth - already underway before the crisis – combined with sluggish investment, continued to undermine rises in economic output and material living standards in recent years in many of the world’s economies, according to a new report released today by the OECD.

Integrating measures to tackle climate change into regular economic policy will have a positive impact on economic growth over the medium and long term, according to a new OECD report prepared in the context of the German Presidency of the G20.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Portugal expanded 2.20 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 over the same quarter of the previous year. GDP Annual Growth Rate in Portugal averaged 1.42 percent from 1996 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 5 percent in the second quarter of 1998 and a record low of -4.50 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. On the expenditure side, household consumption is the main component of GDP and accounts for 66 percent of its total use, followed by government expenditure (19 percent) and gross fixed capital formation (15 percent). Exports of goods and services account for 40 percent of GDP and imports account for 40 percent. This page provides - Portugal GDP Annual Growth Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Health spending continues to rise faster than economic growth in most OECD countries, maintaining a trend observed since the 1970s. Health spending reached 9.5% of GDP on average in 2009, the most recent year for which figures are available, up from 8.8% in 2008, according to OECD Health Data 2011.

Growth in health spending slowed or fell in real terms in 2010 in almost all OECD countries, reversing a long-term trend of rapid increases, according to OECD Health Data 2012.

OECD Health Working Papers No. 60: Health Spending Growth at Zero: Which Countries, Which Sectors Are Most Affected?

Total health spending has fallen in one of three OECD countries between 2009 and 2011, with those hardest hit by the crisis most affected. This is a sharp reversal from the strong growth in the years prior to the crisis, according to a new OECD report.

Many European countries saw further reductions in health spending in 2013, according to OECD Health Statistics 2015. Health spending continued to shrink in Greece, Italy and Portugal in 2013. Most countries in the European Union reported real per capita health spending below the levels of 2009. Outside of Europe, health spending has been growing at around 2.5% per year since 2010.

The High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth, chaired by H.E. François Hollande and H.E. Jacob Zuma, today delivered its final report and recommendations to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Italy is slowly emerging from a deep and lengthy recession, helped by a range of structural reforms – such as the Jobs Act – and accommodative monetary and fiscal policies, according to a new OECD report.

This note is taken from Chapter 2 of Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2012.

Australia delivered USD 5.44 billion in official development assistance (ODA) last year, or 0.36% of its gross national income. It is the eighth most generous country in the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which groups the world’s major donors. Australia’s goal is to reach 0.5% of GNI by 2017 – a goal the DAC encourages it to follow through on, given its good track record and relatively strong economy.

Global Value Chains (GVCs) are a dominant feature of the world economy that impact growth, jobs and development, but numerous challenges remain to ensure that all countries and all firms have the opportunity to participate and benefit.

The G20 needs to go structural, social, and green! With fiscal and monetary policy room nearly exhausted, structural reforms are the best choices, sometimes the only choice. The OECD battle cry in this regard has been unchanged since 2008: “go structural!”.

Leaders of the G20 countries meeting at their Summit in Brisbane, Australia, have called on the OECD and IMF to monitor their commitment to boost economic growth and create jobs.

Going for Growth 2015: Country note for Australia

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Ukraine expanded 1.50 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 over the same quarter of the previous year. GDP Annual Growth Rate in Ukraine averaged 2.64 percent from 2000 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 14.30 percent in the third quarter of 2004 and a record low of -19.60 percent in the first quarter of 2009. On the production side, services are the biggest sector of Ukrainian economy and account for nearly 68 percent of total GDP, of which the most important are; domestic trade (14 percent) and accommodation and food service (13 percent). Industry accounts for 22 percent of GDP and is divided by manufacturing (11 percent); and agriculture (10 percent). This page provides - Ukraine GDP Annual Growth Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

This note is taken from Chapter 2 of Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2012.