Data Stories · Economic strategy map
World Ledger
Where does economic power sit now, and where do present conditions suggest it could emerge next? Change the theory, watch the order move, and inspect the evidence beneath every rank.
Project thesis · power is a choice of weights Read the thesis
Power depends on what counts.
World Ledger is a comparative strategy map of economic power. Its central claim is that no ranking of power is neutral: changing the importance assigned to markets, industry, trade, finance, population, institutions, demographics or resources produces a different ordering of the world. That exposes the theory of power embedded in the result.
Power Now shows where economic power sits today. It measures observable weight across domestic markets, productive capacity, trade reach, financial buffers and population, revealing both the scale of an economy and the structures through which that scale can be mobilised.
Power Potential shows where the conditions for greater economic power already exist. It measures observed momentum, reinvestment, demographic runway, conversion capacity, productive depth, macroeconomic resilience and resource optionality, revealing economies with the capacity to strengthen their position and those whose present power rests on weaker foundations.
Choose the strategic question
Two rankings, one evidence base
Data explainer What a Giga Dataset is What each pillar measures
A Giga Dataset is one versioned, reviewed build of World Ledger's evidence base: a fixed cohort of economies with complete coverage across every scored input, standardised and scored the same way for everyone in it. Giga v1 is the original, strict edition — five pillars per model, a 48-economy cohort, zero imputation. Giga v2 expands to ten pillars per model and a 60-economy cohort, and where a handful of real, direct reports were genuinely unavailable after an active search for alternative sources, a labelled estimate fills the gap rather than dropping the economy — every such value is visibly tagged in the Evidence Ledger below.
Comparison set
Choose up to three economies
01 · Weighted ranking
What drives the ranking?
02 · Ranking histogram
The shape of power
See whether the chosen definition creates a dominant elite, a broad middle or a compressed field.
03 · Power map
Weight now, runway next
Power Now sits on the horizontal axis; Power Potential sits vertically. Bubble area represents GDP at PPP.
04 · Surprise index
Who outranks their size?
The ten largest gaps between GDP rank and the chosen power rank reveal genuine overperformers and underperformers.
05 · Trade constellation
Where trade power travels
Each selected economy flows to its six largest 2024 export destinations. Every route is labelled with destination, share and value.
06 · Conversion bridge
Assets do not convert themselves
Present assets and conversion systems receive separate scores before meeting the resulting Power Potential and Power Now ranks.
07 · Military resourcing · Giga v2, unscored
What does it cost to project force?
This measures declared expenditure, force size and demonstrated arms-export capacity — not equipment inventories, base locations, alliance-backed deterrence, nuclear status or combat effectiveness. Not scored, not weighted, excluded from Power Now and Power Potential.
Evidence ledger
Raw strengths and constraints
Every scored input remains visible in its original unit and reporting period.
Method, scope, limitations and sources
Giga Dataset version 1.0 admits economies with complete coverage across every scored input, then selects the top 48 under the equal-weight Power Now baseline. The same cohort is used for both rankings and every visual, so rank comparisons never switch denominators.
Latest observations must be from 2020 or later; decade measures use at least five observations from 2015–2024. Scale measures are log-transformed before standardisation. Every pillar combines exactly three standardised observations before the pillar receives a weight, limiting double counting while keeping the underlying evidence visible. Inflation and growth volatility are direction-reversed so higher contributions always mean greater stability. Scores are relative z-score composites, not cardinal quantities of power.
Strategic-resource exports cover HS chapters 25, 26, 27, 44 and 71: minerals, ores, fuels, wood, precious metals and stones. Resource optionality does not measure underground reserves, military control, beneficial ownership or foreign corporate control; those remain roadmap questions. No IMF or other expert projection enters Power Potential. Data release: 2026-07-13.
Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators, Worldwide Governance Indicators, and Harvard Growth Lab Atlas of Economic Complexity.