Measuring What Really Matters - Beyond GDP and GNI for holistic view of national wellbeing

Abstract

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Income (GNI) were designed to serve as a scorecard for economic growth by measuring the monetary value of all local goods and services produced within a given period. Today they are also used by the development assistance architecture as proxies to measure a nation’s overall wellbeing and, in some cases, eligibility for external funding. In this review, we assess the academic and grey literature to identify potential alternatives to GDP and GNI that aim to incorporate broader definitions of wellbeing. Two are particularly noteworthy for their real-world implementation: Aotearoa New Zealand’s Living Standards Framework (LSF), which incorporates a holistic understanding of wellbeing for national budgeting that is locally relevant and adjustable according to government priorities, and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) which includes a customizable dashboard approach which sets it apart from the “one-size-fits-all” models of GDP and GNI.