What is GDP?

1. What is GDP? • The monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period, usually on an annual basis. • GDP = C + G + I + NX • "C" is equal to all consumer spending in a nation's economy"G" is the sum of government spending"I" is the sum of all the country's businesses spending on capital"NX" is the nation's total net exports, calculated as total exports minus total imports. (NX = Exports - Imports) • GDP is commonly used as an indicator of the economic health of a country, as well as to gauge a country's standard of living. GDP Video

2. What is Gross National Product? • An economic statistic that includes GDP, plus any income earned by residents from overseas investments, minus income earned within the domestic economy by overseas residents. • GNP is a measure of a country's economic performance, or what its citizens produced (i.e. goods and services) and whether they produced these items within its borders.

3. What is per capita? • A Latin term that translates into "by head," basically meaning "average per person." • Per capita can take the place of saying "per person." • Per capita is often is used to express a country or region's income level or economic output, such as GDP. For example, consider the United Statesin 2011, with a population of about 313,400,000 people and a GDP of $15,094 trillion. In this case, the per capita income, or average income per person, would be equal to approximately $48,000. • National economic indicators such as GDP or GNP are typically quoted on a per capita basis when presented in the media.