The global consumption and income project: An introduction and preliminary findings

We introduce two separate datasets - the Global Consumption Dataset and the Global Income Dataset - containing an unprecedented portrait of consumption and income of persons over time, within and across countries, around the world. The benchmark version of the dataset presents estimates in purchasing power parity units of monthly real consumption and income for every decile of the population (a 'consumption/income profile') for 133 countries and more than half a century (1960 - 2012). We describe the construction of the datasets and demonstrate some possible uses by presenting preliminary results concerning the consumption distribution, poverty, and inequality for the world and specific country aggregates.