GDP stats ‘a poor guide to wellbeing’

GDP growth is an imperfect guide, while age, financial security, and a sense of purpose are better at predicting the population’s sense of wellbeing, according to a new survey on financial security by KBC Bank Ireland.

The report, based on its regular consumer surveys, found Irish people expressed “guarded optimism”, but that GDP fails to reflect overall wellbeing, said co-author Austin Hughes, the bank’s chief economist.