---
name: country-benchmark
description: Compare countries or benchmark one economy against peers using comparable Anansi indicators.
---

# Country benchmark

Read [analysis and presentation practices](../../references/analysis-presentation.md)
and [dataset selection](../../references/dataset-selection.md) before beginning.

Use for peer comparisons, convergence questions, relative performance, and
requests to compare a small set of economies.

Use WED for current, forecast, or higher-frequency comparisons; use annual GMD
for long-run or structural comparisons. Resolve indicators rather than
guessing, preserve forecast labels, and check coverage before comparing.

## Workflow

1. Clarify the benchmark concept if “performance” is ambiguous; do not choose a
   single indicator as a complete definition of performance.
2. Select comparable units and frequencies. Use growth, GDP ratios, per-capita
   measures, or rebasing when absolute levels are not comparable.
3. Use `compare_countries` with `alignment="available"` to inspect coverage.
   Switch to `common` only when an identical window is analytically necessary.
4. Use `compute_series` for growth, CAGR, spreads, rebasing, or correlation.
5. When a visual adds value, use the host-native visualization capability for
   the aligned comparison or computed result.

Explain leaders and laggards, whether gaps are widening or narrowing, important
turning points, and coverage asymmetries. Never interpret a shorter series as
economic underperformance.