Growth rates in economics are commonly used to measure the economic growth of a country. Economic growth is also correlated with other social variables such as poverty, unemployment, environmental degradation, and happiness.

The idea that countries economic growth rates converge over time is a foundational tenet of economics. Recently, however, there has been a divergence between what is happening in the most developed economies and what is happening in emerging markets. The gap between these two groups of countries has grown faster than expected and may not be due solely to fluctuations in commodity prices or global financial markets.