Sustainability-focused inclusive income formula accounts for non-monetary factors overlooked in GDP, says ONS

For generations, the economy’s progress has been measured by a single figure: gross domestic product (GDP). But the UK’s official number cruncher, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), is developing an alternative way of judging what constitutes economic growth, with a view to declaring whether the way we are doing business is more or less sustainable than the previous year.

The rival metric to GDP supplements all the money transactions in the economy with everything from housework to renewable energy’s knock-on environmental benefits, according to the ONS.