Comparing Recent Growth Rates The average annual rate of growth of real GDP per capita from 1980 to 2013 is shown here for selected countries. China and, to a lesser extent, India and Ireland achieved impressive growth. The United States and France had moderate growth. Once considered an economically advanced country, Argentina had more sluggish growth. Still others, such as Zimbabwe, slid backward. Source: The Conference Board Total Economy Database™, January 2014, http://www.conference-board.org/data/economydatabase