Difference between Cumulative values and total value?

Hi Anonymous 

The difference between total and cumulative is that total is entire relating to the whole of something while cumulative is incorporating all data up to the present.

Total output is generally defined as the number of goods or services produced by a firm, industry or country in a given time period.

Cumulative output, as the name suggests means successive addition of outputs produced to get cumulative output for the time period in question.

For instance, say total output in the year 2005 of a firm ABC is 1000 units. i.e firm ABC produced 100 units of the good in the year 2005.

Cumulative output for firm ABC in the year 2005 taking a 5-year time horizon would be (100*5) 500 units assuming the firm has been producing 100 units of the good year on year.