In a free market economy, GDP includes only those products that are sold through the market. That is, consumers are willing to pay prices for the products they consume. In principle, GDP does NOT include those products consumers do not pay for. Exception: Imputed rent is included.
As a result, higher GDP per capita is often associated with positive outcomes in a wide range of areas such as better health, more education, and even greater life satisfaction.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period. As a broad measure of overall domestic production, it functions as a comprehensive scorecard of a given country's economic health.
GDP is important because it gives information about the size of the economy and how an economy is performing. The growth rate of real GDP is often used as an indicator of the general health of the economy. In broad terms, an increase in real GDP is interpreted as a sign that the economy is doing well.
GDP is not a measure of wealth at all. It is a measure of income. It is a backward-looking flow measure that tells you the value of goods and services produced in a given period in the past. It tells you nothing about whether you can produce the same amount again next year.
GDP is also an indicator of human welfare. In cross-country data, GDP per capita is highly correlated with other factors that are important for welfare. In particular, it is positively correlated with life expectancy and negatively correlated with infant mortality and inequality.
Gross domestic product tracks the health of a country's economy. It represents the value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period within a country's borders. Economists can use GDP to determine whether an economy is growing or experiencing a recession.
GDP measures the total market value (gross) of all U.S. (domestic) goods and services produced (product) in a given year. When compared with prior periods, GDP tells us whether the economy is expanding by producing more goods and services or contracting due to less output.
In 2021, the gross domestic product per capita in the United States amounted to around 69,231.4 U.S. dollars. Thus, the United States is one of the countries with the largest GDP per capita worldwide. See the U.S. GDP growth rate here and the US GDP for further information.