<p>Both are combined. They look at the current quarter compared with the previous quarter, but first change the previous quarter up or down based on an average seasonal adjustment based on prior years. It's called the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate. <a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/saar.asp" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SAAR</a>. An obvious example is comparing toy sales in January with toy sales in December to calculate estimated toy sales in February.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-26T13:42:43.310Z
2017-09-26T13:42:43.310Z
Russell Hankins
<p>The OECD might be quite specific in their terminology. I think the use of QoQ (quarter on quarter) and YoY (year on year) are more commonly used. </p>

<p>In a general context, it seems the most used is YoY, at least when it comes to published books:</p>

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

<p>A consistent picture emerges when looking at papers: <a href="http://econpapers.repec.org/scripts/search.pf?ft=year+on+year" rel="nofollow noreferrer">YoY</a> yields 3,140 results, whereas <a href="http://econpapers.repec.org/scripts/search.pf?ft=quarter+on+quarter" rel="nofollow noreferrer">QoQ</a> yields 355 results.</p>

<p>Now, these are general results, not specific to GDP. But they still reflect the fact that you will not go wrong using YoY, as it is a very familiar figure. </p>

<p>Finally, you are correct that QoQ GDP figures are likely to be more volatile than YoY, particular if seasonality has not been accounted for. Another benefit of using YoY growth rates is that people is more used to yearly growth rates, so any analysis will be easier to grasp to the reader.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-14T14:15:38.760Z
2017-08-14T14:51:29.157Z
2017-08-14T14:51:29.157Z
luchonacho
<p>For my thesis I'm writing about the Baltic states and why they didn't vote out their incumbent governments despite undergoing severe austerity. As part of that I'm looking at their growth rates from quarter to quarter, but the OECD website gives me two options to do so:
Growth rate compared to previous quarter (GPSA)
Growth rate compared to same quarter of previous year (GYSA)</p>

<p>I'm not sure which is used more often in academic literature, or is more useful for my purposes. I've seen both being used in newspapers, and so I'm not sure which is better. GPSA seems more volatile, but I think I've seen it being used more often as well.</p>

<p>Any ideas?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-13T22:15:07.517Z
Americans tend to look compared with the previous quarter and then annualize the rate.  Europeans are more likely to compare with the previous year to reduce the impact of excess volatility in the quarterly numbers
Henry
<macroeconomics><econometrics><gdp><international-economics>
What is used more: economic growth rate compared to previous quarter (GPSA), or growth rate compared to the same quarter of the previous year (GYSA)
J J
# What is used more: economic growth rate compared to previous quarter (GPSA), or growth rate compared to the same quarter of the previous year (GYSA)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-07-13)

For my thesis I'm writing about the Baltic states and why they didn't vote out their incumbent governments despite undergoing severe austerity. As part of that I'm looking at their growth rates from quarter to quarter, but the OECD website gives me two options to do so:
Growth rate compared to previous quarter (GPSA)
Growth rate compared to same quarter of previous year (GYSA)

I'm not sure which is used more often in academic literature, or is more useful for my purposes. I've seen both being used in newspapers, and so I'm not sure which is better. GPSA seems more volatile, but I think I've seen it being used more often as well.

Any ideas?

**Tags:** macroeconomics, econometrics, gdp, international-economics

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Americans tend to look compared with the previous quarter and then annualize the rate.  Europeans are more likely to compare with the previous year to reduce the impact of excess volatility in the quarterly numbers  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-09-26. Score: 0

Both are combined. They look at the current quarter compared with the previous quarter, but first change the previous quarter up or down based on an average seasonal adjustment based on prior years. It's called the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate. [SAAR](http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/saar.asp). An obvious example is comparing toy sales in January with toy sales in December to calculate estimated toy sales in February.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2017-08-14. Score: 0

The OECD might be quite specific in their terminology. I think the use of QoQ (quarter on quarter) and YoY (year on year) are more commonly used.

In a general context, it seems the most used is YoY, at least when it comes to published books:

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

A consistent picture emerges when looking at papers: [YoY](http://econpapers.repec.org/scripts/search.pf?ft=year+on+year) yields 3,140 results, whereas [QoQ](http://econpapers.repec.org/scripts/search.pf?ft=quarter+on+quarter) yields 355 results.

Now, these are general results, not specific to GDP. But they still reflect the fact that you will not go wrong using YoY, as it is a very familiar figure.

Finally, you are correct that QoQ GDP figures are likely to be more volatile than YoY, particular if seasonality has not been accounted for. Another benefit of using YoY growth rates is that people is more used to yearly growth rates, so any analysis will be easier to grasp to the reader.


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