GDP growth
Arguably, the most important determinant of private consumption growth rates is the
GDP growth rate. Table 1 shows data on real GDP growth rates alongside data on real
private consumption growth rates in the G7 countries during the 2002–2007 and 2007–2009
periods. As can be seen from this table, there is, in fact, a high correlation between private
consumption growth rates and GDP growth rates. Moreover, private consumption growth
rates roughly equal GDP growth rates in many countries, including France (2.09 vs. 2.00
percent), Italy (1.05 vs. 1.14 percent), the United Kingdom (2.44 vs. 2.68 percent), and the
United States (2.98 vs. 2.75 percent). However, private consumption growth rates exceed
GDP growth rates by a considerable margin in some countries such as Canada (3.74 vs. 2.61
percent) and fall short of GDP growth rates by a considerable margin in some countries such
as Germany (0.33 vs. 1.55 percent) and Japan (1.30 vs. 2.10 percent) (all figures pertain to
the 2002–2007 period). Thus, GDP growth rates are apparently not the only determinant of
private consumption growth rates