Distortion of G. N. P. Data Due to Conversion at Official Exchange Rate

In recent years, the World Bank Atlas has become a widely used source of information on population and per capita income in all countries of the world. The latest Atlas converts the G.N.P. figures of the individual countries expressed in local currencies, into U.S. dollars. However, since many traditional goods which are not traded internationally and so do not affect the exchange rate tend to be cheap in relation to traded goods, the equivalent of a dollar tends to go further in meeting people's day to day wants in the low income countries than in the industrialized nations.