How many times have you heard about the need to revisit or move beyond the GDP?
A well-being lens is winning space in how nations assess economic progress. What’s been long overlooked is finally being addressed by economic statisticians. The 2025 revision of the System of National Accounts (SNA)—the international standard for measuring the economy, including GDP—now includes well-being for current and future generations.
All capitals (including natural, human, social and produced capital) are now recognized as essential assets that underpin economic benefits. Consequently, their depreciation, depletion and degradation need to be accounted for as costs of production to properly assess an economy’s long-term resilience. This is especially clear when accounting for natural resources. If a nation extracts natural resources in the present, GDP will be high but, in the future, if not managed correctly, those resources will not be available and the economy and wider community will suffer from the lack of the benefits the resources can generate. This not only happens when natural resources are extracted, but also when ecosystems are degraded due to, for example, pollution.
This basic principle of treating depletion as a cost of production wasn’t applied to natural resources in national accounts until the 2025 SNA. Now, countries will be aiming to estimate the depletion of their natural resources and reveal the impact on national income through the Net Domestic Product (NDP) as a key indicator of economic growth. This shift will help inform public decision-makers and move us towards a more responsible and integrated use of capitals.
This new economic lens presents a significant opportunity. How do you see your business adapting to and thriving within this evolving framework of national progress?
Words Marta Santamaria
Deep Dive
If you are interested in learning more, watch the session hosted by the Capitals Coalition and hear more about other novelties in the SNA, as well as the discussion on:
- How this information is useful for policy makers;
- What other improvements are still needed;
- How businesses can benefit from these developments and contribute to them.
