• MEASURING GNP
• FURTHER READING:

A country's gross national product (GNP) is a measure of the value of its production of goods and services for a specific period, usually one year. Comparisons of GNP from year to year or quarter to quarter, when measured in constant dollars, indicate changes in a country's overall production and the direction of its economy. In general, economic policy makers look to the size and growth of the GNP as an indication of the health of the country's economy. In a sense, it is the single most important measure of how an economy is functioning.

In the United States the GNP has been replaced by the gross domestic product (GDP) as the principal measure of domestic production. The GDP is calculated the same way as the GNP, except that it is limited to...