Key points
This indicator measures the Genuine Progress (GPI) of areas. It is similar to the concept of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a means of measuring economic progress, but takes into account the “true” cost of economic progress by measuring things such as environmental and social costs.
The GPI is an attempt to measure whether or not an area's growth, increased production of goods, and expanding services have actually resulted in the improvement of the welfare (or well-being) of the people in the area. GPI also reflects sustainability: whether a country's economic activity over a year has left the country with a better or worse future possibility of repeating at least the same level of economic activity in the long run. We measure GPI to monitor the long term ‘health’ of an area by balancing the benefit of economic growth development with social and environmental costs and benefits associated with that growth.
- Ecological Economics Research New Zealand (EERNZ) recently released a Waikato Region GPI Report which showed that, for the period 1990 to 2006, the Waikato Region GPI grew from $9.1 billion to $11.4 billion, an annual average rate of 1.42%. This can be compared to the region’s GDP which grew from $9.3 billion to $13.4 billion at an annual average rate of 2.29%. Over the same period, the national GPI rose at an annual average rate of 2.17%, while national GDP grew at an annual average rate of 3.15%. These results represents a first, and preliminary, step in measuring genuine progress in the Waikato Region. There are a number of outstanding theoretical, methodological and empirical issues with the Waikato Region GPI which future work may address.
- A related indicator is that of ‘Ecological footprint’. This measures how much productive land it takes to support the lifestyle of an individual, a city, region or country in today’s economy. It is calculated as the land use required for production and consumption of goods and services. Based on data from 2003-2004, the ecological footprint of an average Waikato Region resident is 5.8 ha, which is slightly smaller than the national average. However compared to most other countries, New Zealanders have a large ecological footprint – five to ten times larger than people living in India or China, and larger than Japan and many European nations..
What agencies are doing
Information currently being collated.
What you can do to help
Information currently being collated.
More information
More detail on this indicator, including how and where this information is collected, is available here.
What we want to achieve
The community outcome we are seeking to achieve by measuring the Genuine Progress Indicator is:
- Our region has economic growth and development that is well-planned and balanced with environmental, cultural and social needs and values.