The economic indicators include such indicators as economic growth, income distribution and household and public infrastructure. This page provides a brief description of each indicator.

Indicator summaries are available for all 51 indicators. The summaries are derived from technical reports. Some of these reports are also available for download.

1. Economic Diversity

A diversified economy protects society from boom and bust cycles that lead to social problems. In this summary, the percent of the GDP attributable to each industry in Alberta is tracked giving a measure for Alberta's diversification.

2. Economic Growth

The Genuine Progress Indicator uses GDP to measure "Economic Growth." Economic growth is 1 of the 51 indicators that make up the GPI. The GDP measures the flow of money into the economy well but fails to differentiate spending that detracts from societal well-being from spending that contributes to it.

3. Trade

Alberta's economic prosperity is highly dependent on trade, primarily the export of natural capital such as coal, oil, gas, timber and agricultural products. The monetary value of exports from Alberta's economy is analyzed.

4. Disposable income

Alberta's increasing GDP is analyzed in relation to disposable income. The results suggest that not all Albertans are benefiting from a booming economy.

5. Weekly Wage Rate

The average weekly salaries of Albertans between 1961 and 2003 are measured. Using the GPI model, salaries are analyzed in relation to debt and savings to give a more accurate measure of household economic stability.

6. Personal Expenditures

Spending on goods and services after income tax and other mandatory income deductions is an indicator of personal expenditures. This summary looks at how Albertans spend their personal money and how those patterns have changed over time.

7. Transportation Expenditures

The GPI assesses how much money Albertans are spending on transportation and what the associated environmental costs are.

8. Taxes

This summary looks at how much money Albertans are paying on taxes and whether or not this spending enhances social well-being.

9. Savings Rate

Savings are what is left over from income after all living expenditures including taxes have been made. Here we explore the trend in savings over time.

10. Household Debt

The cost of household debt servicing is based on an estimate of the interest payments on chartered bank customer loans. Household debt grew more than five times faster per annum than disposable income between 1961 and 2003.

11. Public Infrastructure

In GPI accounting, the value provided by public infrastructure is measured. For example the GPI measures the value that people realize from the existence of streets and highways.

12. Household Infrastructure

The GDP tells us that the more we spend on personal automobiles, dishwashers and other household infrastructure, the better off we are. The GPI attempts to measure the value of services from these items rather than the value of the items themselves.