Finding Data
Since we’re looking at comparing an indicator across countries, we should start by exploring the Concept & Category database. For this exercise, we’ll use GDP from National Sources.
GDP series can be found under National Accounts. We will use constant prices. Now we just need to select the countries we are interested in: France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain. To add multiple series at once, hold on CTRL while selecting series and then press “Add selected Series”.
Analysis
Rebase
Now that we’ve added our series to the document, let’s move on to the Analysis tree. By default a time chart which shows the raw series is already in place below the series list. Let’s insert a Rebase analysis on this chart to compare their evolution.
In Rebase, the next step is to define the settings for our analysis. We’ll use the Absolute Method and set the base date to the 1st of January 2008.To apply these settings to the rest of the series, we will use the fill-down arrow. To see the result click on time chart.
Charting
Basic charting adjustments
We have our analysis in place, but the chart could still be improved a bit to suit our purposes. To adjust the time range, click on the X-axis and look up to the command bar, at the presentation properties tab. Under Display range, we will set the start date to 2008.
To edit text, double click on a text element, such as the chart title and adjust the text in the editor that pops up.
To edit the legend text for a specific series, you’ll need to double click on its graph in the chart. Clicking on the legend itself allows you to edit the legend as a whole. To tidy it up a bit, we can remove the analysis text by clicking on the legend area and unticking the setting “show analysis text” in presentation properties.
Horizontal line
Finally, we can highlight the reference value, which in this case is 100, by adding an horizontal line. Click on the Chart annotations tab at the top, and select horizontal line. You can place it manually or set the position by suing the setting in the presentation properties tab.