Indicators for global economic activity

In addition to economic activity indicators for individual countries, an important role is also played by economic activity indicators for trans-national regions in the monitoring of global economic activity. This article discusses the instruments and the most important indicators for economic activity monitoring at a global level and compares their respective qualities. The authors’ calculations show that a monitoring system should consist of four time series for global economic activity: the Composite Leading Indicator, the Business Confidence Indicator and International Industry Production, all three published by the OECD, as well as the Ifo World Economic Climate published by the Ifo Institute. With the help of these four time series, the development of the global business cycle can be appraised.