Moving Beyond GDP Through Comprehensive Wealth

There is a growing agreement among global leaders that countries must move beyond GDP as their primary measure of progress. A new IISD report developed with academic partners in Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Trinidad and Tobago shows how “comprehensive wealth” can complement GDP while measuring what matters most to people and the planet.

Comprehensive wealth focuses on the portfolio of assets that make income possible: natural, human, social, produced, and financial capital. As a means of moving beyond GDP, comprehensive wealth has much to offer. Like GDP, it is concise. Just a few high-level indicators can measure a country’s comprehensive wealth portfolio. It is also robust, resting on theory and practice stretching back more than a century. Finally, it is relevant to well-being across all its dimensions—economic, social, and environmental.

This report compiles comprehensive wealth data from 1995–2020 primarily using national data sources for three countries at differing levels of development—Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Trinidad and Tobago—and reveals insights into their development paths. Regrettably, none of these insights are obvious when GDP is the primary gauge of national success.

The authors argue that the citizens of these countries—indeed, of all countries—would be better off if their governments compiled comprehensive wealth measures and used them, alongside GDP, to guide decision making. This would help ensure a greater focus on ensuring long-term well-being.