§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of the world's economic activity they consider is not measured by gross domestic product (GDP); and in which categories of countries they deem GDP measurements of economic activity to be least accurate. [HL2650]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics, who has been asked to reply.
Letter to Lord Kennet from the Director of the Office for National Statistics, Dr. T Holt, dated 15 July 1998.
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to answer your parliamentary question on Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
ONS does not have the information requested. GDP is the indicator used as the main measurement of economic activity by countries around the world. Estimates of GDP may not capture all economic activity in countries which have, for example, a significant amount of illegal economic production or a large volume of transactions in barter.