Growing pains: commentary on the strengths and limitations of Gross Domestic Product

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a central part of the growth agenda. But many of us don’t understand what it is, or what its strengths and weaknesses are.

In this briefing paper, we share our learning about the history and limitations of GDP. We explain how we have outgrown this metric, and why it’s time for the development of new measures of progress.