<p>It depends on what you want to look at. The blue line compares GDP of this period to the same period of the previous year. This is referred to "year-on-year" or "year-over-year" growth. The green line compares GDP of this period to the GDP of the previous period, "quarter-on-quarter (QoQ)" growth.</p>

<p>Because there's seasonality in the GDP (usually Q4 is the highest because of the holiday shopping), when you do QoQ growth you have to adjust for it, and that's where "seasonally adjusted" comes from.</p>

<p>Usually the year-on-year growth is what gets reported in the news.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-16T02:52:54.050Z
I want to find the quarterly real growth differential between US and Argentina. I have the same data for Argentina as well.
user508281
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-16T03:14:41.633Z
Right. That doesn't really help though, since you could compare both QoQ growth and YoY growth across countries. As I said, you normally see people use YoY growth, if that helps any.
Art
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-16T02:48:21.443Z
2019-07-16T02:48:21.443Z
Art
<p>I am interested in finding the quarterly real GDP growth rate of US and have found the following two measures from IMF International Financial Statistics:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/YBHEy.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/YBHEy.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Which one should I choose (Dark Green or Light Green)?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-03T09:48:33.357Z
Do you understand the difference between these two measures?
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<macroeconomics>
US Real GDP Growth Rate
user508281
# US Real GDP Growth Rate

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-07-15)

I am interested in finding the quarterly real GDP growth rate of US and have found the following two measures from IMF International Financial Statistics:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/YBHEy.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/YBHEy.png)

Which one should I choose (Dark Green or Light Green)?

**Tags:** macroeconomics
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Do you understand the difference between these two measures?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-07-16. Score: 1

It depends on what you want to look at. The blue line compares GDP of this period to the same period of the previous year. This is referred to "year-on-year" or "year-over-year" growth. The green line compares GDP of this period to the GDP of the previous period, "quarter-on-quarter (QoQ)" growth.

Because there's seasonality in the GDP (usually Q4 is the highest because of the holiday shopping), when you do QoQ growth you have to adjust for it, and that's where "seasonally adjusted" comes from.

Usually the year-on-year growth is what gets reported in the news.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I want to find the quarterly real growth differential between US and Argentina. I have the same data for Argentina as well.  
> **username_2**: Right. That doesn't really help though, since you could compare both QoQ growth and YoY growth across countries. As I said, you normally see people use YoY growth, if that helps any.  

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