GDP Price Deflator | Formula, Example, & Investing Strategy

Gold balloon that is deflating from a valve. A large blue circle with white text reads "GDP DEFLATOR," surrounded by smaller blue circles on a light background.

Discounting the effects of inflation.

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Suppose you tune into the financial news to hear that the economy’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.5% last quarter. Sounds like a productivity boom, right? But then you hear those same experts mention the “real GDP” figure, which fell by 1.6%. So what’s going on?

The answer lies in a key measure called the GDP price deflator—a metric that tells you how much of a GDP change is caused by price inflation rather than actual growth in goods and services.

Key Points

  • Nominal GDP can be misleading, as it conflates real growth with price inflation.
  • The GDP price deflator…

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