What is GDP in Billions of chained 200 dollars means?

Answer 1

There are two different type of economic indices: current and chained. A chained index uses historical prices while current indices are adjusted for inflation.

For example, if you had an index about US spending on healthcare and education from 1980 to now, the growth would be modest as consumption of VOLUME of healthcare and education has generally grown in line with population growth. However, when you adjust for the price change, spending has sky-rocketted as healthcare and education prices have soared.

The chained dollar index is very easy to use and calculate. It is helpful for small changes within short time periods. The adjusted current indices are much more complex as they heed inflation changes (which then introduces more variables like changes in quality, shifts in basket composition).

For you question, what is "GDP in billions of chained 200 dollars", you probably meant "GDP in billions of chained 2000 dollars" - which indicates what GDP was in year 2000 price terms.