In his book, Butterfly Economics, Paul Ormerod dismisses as merely technical the difference between GDP & GNP
In the context of his argument this is fair enough, but I find myself wondering just how real is the difference these days
Back in the heady 1960s, the decade of independence, new countries, new economies, new development plans, the difference was far from technical
Put simply GDP (Gross Domestic Product) was the value of everything produced within a country
GNP (Gross National Product, more often called Gross National Income these days) was the total income of the people living in the country
Income from capital – rent, profits, dividends – was the main cause of any difference
In many countries the differences were not large, but generally speaking, in developing countries GNP was lower than GDP because more of their productive assets were owned by foreigners
In the UK, though the difference was shrinking rapidly, GNP was more than GDP
The definitions have not changed. I expect in these mobile days wages & salaries earned/sent abroad play a larger role but I cannot really begin to imagine where all those ginormous international financial (or credit) flows showed up in national accounts
Sadly I have not been able to find a source which makes it easy to make direct international comparisons
