7.3.9. Genuine Progress Indicator

While GDP is a measure of current income, GPI is designed to measure the sustainability of that income. GPI uses the same personal consumption data as GDP but make deductions to account for income inequality and costs of crime, environmental degradation, and loss of leisure and additions to account for the services from consumer durables and public infrastructure as well as the benefits of volunteering and housework. By differentiating between economic activity that diminishes both natural and social capital and activity that enhances such capital, the GPI and its variants are designed to measure sustainable economic welfare rather than economic activity alone. Proponents of the GPI see it as a better measure of the sustainability of an economy when compared to the GDP measure. Since 1995 the GPI indicator has grown in stature and is used in Canada and the United States.