Let Si: ℝd → ℝd for i = 1, …, n be contracting similarities, and let (p1, …, pn) be a probability vector. Let K and μ be the self-similar set and the self-similar measure associated with (Si,pi)i. For q ∈ ℝ and r > 0, define the qth covering moment and the qth packing moment of μ by

[formula here]

where the infimum is taken over all r-spanning subsets E of K, and the supremum is taken over all r-separated subsets F of K. If the Open Set Condition (OSC) is satisfied then it is well known that

[formula here]

where β(q) is defined by [sum ]ipqirβi(q) = 1 (here ri denotes the Lipschitz constant of Si). Assuming the OSC, we determine the exact rate of convergence in (*): there exist multiplicatively periodic functions πq, Πq: (0,∞) → ℝ such that

[formula here]

where ε(r) → 0 as r[searr ]0. As an application of (**) we show that the empirical multi-fractal moment measures converges weakly:

[formula here]

where, for each positive r, Er is a (suitable) minimal r-spanning subset of K and Fr is a (suitable) maximal r-separated subset of K, and [Hscr ]q,β(q)μ and [Pscr ]q,β(q)μ are the multifractal Hausdorff measure and the multifractal packing measure, respectively.