What is economic growth? And why is it so important?
Our World in Data presents the data and research to make progress against the world’s largest problems. This post draws on data and research discussed in our entries on Income Inequality, Global Extreme Poverty and Economic Growth.
Good health, a place to live, access to education, nutrition, social connections, respect, peace, human rights, a healthy environment, happiness. These are just some of the many aspects we care about in our lives.
At the heart of many of these aspects that we care about are needs for which we require particular goods and services: think of those that are needed for the goals on that list above – the health services from nurses and doctors, the home you live in, or the teachers that provide education.
Poverty, prosperity, and growth are often measured in monetary terms, most commonly as people’s income. But while monetary measures have some important advantages, they have the big disadvantage that they are abstract. In the worst case monetary measures – like GDP per capita – are so abstract that we forget what they are actually about: people’s access to goods and services.
