Question

In 2 to 3 sentences

Answer 1

GDP is the sum of all goods and services produced in an economy. It is the main economic indicator of a nation. Per capita GDP is a social indicator that aims to measure the average income of a nation's population. Per capita GDP calculation consists of simply dividing the GDP value by the total population of a nation.

Per capita GDP indicates the average income of a country, but it is not a good indicator for income distribution. This is because a country may have a high middle income and be very unequal. This will happen if income is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people. This would not be captured by GDP per capita, as this indicator only adds GDP and divides by the total number of people, without any weighting of the distribution of wealth. To determine income distribution, economists use other indicators such as the HDI and the Gini index.

Answer 2

The GDP per capita calculates what theoretically would be the share of every individual in the country if the GDP was destributed equally. The economy of course is very different in reality where everyone ends up with a different portion depending on a lot of other factors.