Rate of Growth 

Every country desires economic growth. A country's economic performance is often judged on the basis of - among other things - the rates of growth it has managed to achieve.

Normally in discussions of growth we talk of two rates of growth both expressed as percentage per annum. One is the growth rate of GDP and the other is the growth rate of per capita GDP. In both cases we are normally referring to growth in real magnitudes i.e. after adjusting for changes in prices. Growth in per capita GDP indicates how rapidly the living standards of the population are improving.

It should be obvious that the two growth rates are related to each through a third growth rate viz. population growth rate. If GDP is growing at g% per annum and population at p% per annum, per capita GDP must be growing at (g-p)% per annum.