But … The largest economy in the world, the United States, was only the 14th happiest country in the world that year. The Inclusive Development Index measures the performance of economies in improving not just aggregate growth data but more importantly in raising people’s living standards. GDP per capita is the best way to compare GDP between countries because it divides the GDP by the number of residents, and measures the country's standard of living.In the first quarter of 2020, the U.S. GDP per capita was $57,621. In other words, standard of living of the people means the quantity and quality of their consumption. Gross domestic product per capita (GDP per capita) is the total of the goods and services produced in a country divided by the number of people in the country. GDP per capita gives an idea of the standard living, or how well people live in that nation. All that considered, though, GDP remains the standard measurement for economic growth in mainstream economics, politics and public imagination. GDP only measures the total size of a country's economy. ADVERTISEMENTS: We know that if a person satisfies some wants in a particular manner long enough, they recur and […] There are alternatives to GDP, like measuring happiness. The standard of living is derived from per capita GDP, determined by dividing GDP by the number of people living in the country. GDP divided by population, gives GDP per capita, which is sometime used to measure the standard of living. Economic growth, for instance, isn’t always a reliable indicator of the well-being of people living in that country. Researchers typically attribute the development of the linkages between the standard And that's also why it’s a very important number. Gross domestic product (GDP) is the total value of goods and services produced in a country. Gross domestic product, or GDP, measures the total output of the economy, including activity, stability, and growth of goods and services; as such, it’s seen as a proxy for the economy. Economic growth has raised living standards around the world. India's rate of economic growth is 7.1% in 2016 Q1. The measures of living standards used are income, expenditure and the availability of consumer durables. Thus, the standard of living increases (decreases) when economic growth (i.e., the growth rate of real GDP) exceeds (falls below) the population growth rate. GDP will be able to give us a rough idea on how the standard of living is in a certain country. Growth can lead to higher living standards because if GDP rises, there is more money in the domestic economy. This article draws on data from the Family Finances Survey to assess the living standards of the unemployed after various durations of unemployment and compare these with the living standards of families with low incomes from work. Measuring living standards. GDP per capita is a useful measure as a summary indicator of living standards in a country, since Gross Domestic Product measures the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time. Some countries have a big GDP only because of their large population. Economic growth is defined as an increase in the productive potential of an economy. ADVERTISEMENTS: Meaning: Standard of living’ refers to the necessaries, comforts and lux­uries which a person is accustomed to enjoy. Living standards tend to move with GDP per capita, so we can assume that the changes of living standards can be reflected in the changes of GDP per capita. 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