Double counting is an error caused as a result of illogical calculation. This term is used in economics to refer to the faulty practice of counting the value of a nation's goods more than once. Since goods are produced in stages, through specialized channels of production, many intermediate goods are used to produce a final good. If the values of each of these intermediate goods is added together, without subtracting expenditures incurred during the production process, the error of double counting will be committed.