Gross national product (GNP): is an economic indicator, devised in the 1930s, which corresponds to the wealth produced by a country’s inhabitants and expatriates over the course of a year. It allows the wealth produced by a country to be measured. To make this assessment, the GNP takes into account the value of the goods and services created and subtracts the value of goods and services lost or altered during the production stage. In contrast to gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the wealth produced by all operators and persons residing in a specific territory, the GNP is calculated on the basis of a country’s citizens, regardless of their place of residence. However, this indicator has not been used in French accounting since 1993 and has been replaced by the gross national income (GNI).

Gross national income (GNI): corresponds to the total income (salaries and financial revenue), as understood by national economic operators. The GNI is the sum of the GDP and the balance of the major revenue streams from the rest of the world.

Gross domestic product (GDP): is an economic indicator that aims to quantify the total value of wealth (goods and services) created by economic operators within a given territory (households, businesses, public administrations). The annual variation in the GDP reflects the rate of economic growth. The GDP is a monetary flow that can be calculated by combining the value added by all players involved in production (including administration), either by counting up all salaries, profits and financial revenue, or rather by adding up the total expenditure (consumption, investments and public spending). It is established by the INSEE for France and by the OECD for all countries. Various economic theories aim to demonstrate how technological progress and increases in workforce and investment ensure economic growth. However, there remains a question of whether these parameters are enough to lend GDP sufficient credibility.

As the idea of GDP is disputed and the vagaries of accounting begin with evaluating services, the GDP includes outright all industrial or road accidents, advertising and marketing. It ignores altruistic activity, environmental impact and the parallel economy. An initial series of amendments has been introduced to the new standard GDP, which incorporated R&D activity in 2015. In some countries, GDP takes drug markets and prostitution revenue into account.

GDP includes the market “value” of some activities whose use is not always obvious and it only partially measures the material living standards of individuals. It has been suggested that GDP should add indicators relating to employment rate, productive assets, the cumulative debt of all economic players, disability-free life expectancy, life satisfaction, income disparities, completion of higher education, carbon footprint, bird population and waste recycling rates. The fair and sustainable GDP is one of a number of universal attempts to measure wealth (Figure A1.1). However, a consistent form of this indicator should be developed.

Moving towards a new economic index: Since 2004, the OECD has sought to create a new economic indicator. Following the “Better Life Index”, a joint project between the OECD and the UN, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia and Belgium have suggested new economic indexes intending to reflect the economic trends, quality of social life and sustainable development of all states. In June 2015, the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE – Conseil économique social et environnemental) and France Stratégie have joined forces to develop a set of 10 indicators compatible with GDP (http://www.lecese.fr/)