Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Gross Domestic Product
Caption: World map showing Gross Domestic Product per capita in 2006, in U.S. dollars.
Ever wonder how economists evaluate how strong or weak a country's economy is? They use several different "economic indicators" that tell how an economy is doing. One of these is the standard of living. Researchers gather information about the number of telephones, televisions, cars, and other goods that are available in the country. They divide that number by the total number of the population.
Another economic indicator that shows how well the people in a country live is the nominal GDP. GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product. This is the total amount of final goods and services produced in that country in a year. All the goods and services produced in one year have to be counted. All the cars, books, computers, and food sold in that year are counted. So are the services of doctors, nurses, and professional sports players. The value of all these goods and services are calculated.
