Base Year Definition
A base year is a specific year used as a point of reference for comparison. In most cases, the base year is the current year. This year is used as a starting point to measure change over time. The base year can also be any other arbitrary year, depending on what is being measured. For example, when examining population growth, the base year might be 1950. When analyzing economic data, the base year might be 1990. Thebase
The purpose of using a base year is to have a common frame of reference when making comparisons. Without a base year, it would be difficult to determine whether something has increased or decreased in value over time. For instance, if the population in 1950 was 10 million and the population in 1990 was 20 million, we would know that the population has doubled over those 40 years. However, without a base year we wouldn’t know if the population grew slowly and steadily or if there were sharp spikes followed by periods of decline.
There are drawbacks to using a base year as well. One issue is that data from the chosenbase
year may not be representative of current conditions. Another potential problem is that changes in technology or methods used to collect data can result in discontinuities between years, which can make comparisons difficult or impossible.
