<p>You can find data on GDP and its components from IMF at <a href="https://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=61545852" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this link</a>.</p>
<p>IMF separates investment into Gross Fixed Capital Formation and Change in Inventories. If you sum these two variables together you will get the <span class="math-container">$I$</span> portion of GDP.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-21T22:48:30.260Z
Okay, this appears to be what was done for the World Bank data.
kleinerde
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-21T22:52:16.333Z
@kleinerde nowadays it’s getting common to separate them because investment in capital goods is often what people are interested as opposed to investment in building up inventory
1muflon1
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-21T22:41:09.020Z
2022-02-21T22:41:09.020Z
1muflon1
<p>I want to test the correlation of a variable with investment in the national income formula C+I+G+NX. Using <a href="https://data.imf.org/?sk=4c514d48-b6ba-49ed-8ab9-52b0c1a0179b&amp;sId=1390030341854" rel="nofollow noreferrer">IMF data</a>, there are a lot of different investment variables in different formats. <em>What would be the most appropriate variable or variable combination for this?</em> I've also found <a href="https://tcdata360.worldbank.org/indicators/inv.all.pct?country=BRA&amp;indicator=345&amp;viz=line_chart&amp;years=1980,2026" rel="nofollow noreferrer">World Bank Data in %GDP</a> which appears to also be from the IMF. The description from World Bank is
&quot;Expressed as a ratio of total investment in current local currency and GDP in current local currency. Investment or gross capital formation is measured by the total value of the gross fixed capital formation and changes in inventories and acquisitions less disposals of valuables for a unit or sector.&quot; <em>If this data is viable</em>, then for discussion, does this mean, for example, &quot;New trucks minus sold trucks, domestically&quot;? Or does this include international capital, e.g., my trucks purchased and driven abroad but for income sent home?</p>

<gdp><investment><data><imf>
Investment variable in GDP - Data Selection - World Bank, IMF
kleinerde
# Investment variable in GDP - Data Selection - World Bank, IMF

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-02-21)

I want to test the correlation of a variable with investment in the national income formula C+I+G+NX. Using [IMF data](https://data.imf.org/?sk=4c514d48-b6ba-49ed-8ab9-52b0c1a0179b&sId=1390030341854), there are a lot of different investment variables in different formats. *What would be the most appropriate variable or variable combination for this?* I've also found [World Bank Data in %GDP](https://tcdata360.worldbank.org/indicators/inv.all.pct?country=BRA&indicator=345&viz=line_chart&years=1980,2026) which appears to also be from the IMF. The description from World Bank is
"Expressed as a ratio of total investment in current local currency and GDP in current local currency. Investment or gross capital formation is measured by the total value of the gross fixed capital formation and changes in inventories and acquisitions less disposals of valuables for a unit or sector." *If this data is viable*, then for discussion, does this mean, for example, "New trucks minus sold trucks, domestically"? Or does this include international capital, e.g., my trucks purchased and driven abroad but for income sent home?

**Tags:** gdp, investment, data, imf


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-02-21. Score: 1

You can find data on GDP and its components from IMF at [this link](https://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=61545852).

IMF separates investment into Gross Fixed Capital Formation and Change in Inventories. If you sum these two variables together you will get the $I$ portion of GDP.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Okay, this appears to be what was done for the World Bank data.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 nowadays it’s getting common to separate them because investment in capital goods is often what people are interested as opposed to investment in building up inventory  

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