Gross National Product (GNP) is not only a domestic indicator of economic growth. It is also a performance measure used by multinational funding agencies to assess the economic progress of developing countries. As such, GNP is an economic instrument that has been exported from the North to the South. This article suggests that GNP is an inappropriate measure of true progress even in the Northern countries for which it was developed, and is especially damaging when used as an indicator of developing nation progress. A range of alternative social development indicators are suggested, drawing on an extensive literature including critiques and modifications of GNP as well as complementary social and environmental indicators.
