This episode of The Weekly Tradecast looks at UNCTAD’s tool to measure sustainable growth and some of the signs of progress with Anu Peltola, who is in charge of the organization’s statistics unit.

For nearly 80 years, gross domestic product (GDP) has been the headline number to measure a country’s prosperity.

To get a more detailed picture, UNCTAD's Inclusive Growth Index goes further by combining GDP with other data on living conditions, equality and environmental sustainability. Launched in 2022 and expanded last year, the index now covers 93% of the world’s people and 96% of the global economy.

On average, developed countries score nearly twice as high as developing countries for inclusive growth. But some gaps are getting smaller.

Tune in to UNCTAD’s Anu Peltola to find out where and why.