This paper provides the latest annual results for the U.S./Canada purchasing power parities (PPPs) and real expenditure indexes in the U.S. compared with Canada for the period 2002 to 2009. Revisions to previously published data and an update using the most recent US and Canada expenditure data from the National Accounts and in-depth price comparisons for 2005 are incorporated. The paper provides a primer on purchasing power parities and related measures and why they are important in international comparisons of economic performance. It also describes a new projection methodology for total economy measures that are now based on Gross Domestic Income and shows the impact of this change on the data.

Custodian: Statistics Canada