Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the standard measure of the value of final goods and services produced by a country during a period. While GDP is the single most important indicator to capture these economic activities, it is not a good measure of societies’ wellbeing and only a limited measure of people’s material living standards. The sections and indicators that follow better address this and other related issues and this is one of the primary purposes of this publication.

Changes in the size of economies are usually measured by changes in the volume (often referred to as real) of GDP. Real reflects the fact that changes in GDP due to inflation are removed. This provides a measure of changes in the volume of production of an economy.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is a core indicator of economic performance and commonly used as a broad measure of average living standards or economic well-being; despite some recognised shortcomings.