Calculate the geometric mean.

Question

The estimated change in population as at 30 June in the five years from 1998 to 2002 for South Africa is shown in the table below:

Calculate the geometric mean.

Answer 1

The geometric mean = (X1 x X2 x X3 x 4X x ... x Xn)^(1/n)

= (1.250 x 1.056 x 1.203 x 1.109 x 1.250)^(1/5)

= (2.201 130 955)^(1/n)

= 1.170 944 264

Therefore the geometric mean of the percentage change is 1.006.