A beyond GDP approach in times of economic recession. The case of Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) for Greece during 1995 to 2022

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been widely used as a proxy for economic success. Over time, GDP has prioritised economic expansion at the expense of sustainability, failing to distinguish between activities that enhance well-being and those that generate negative externalities. In response, the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) emerged as an alternative framework among others, structured upon the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW). Unlike GDP, which treats all economic activity as a net positive, GPI distinguishes between activities that contribute to well-being and those that impose social or environmental costs. The present study estimates the GPI for Greece, a developed economy recently undergone a prolonged economic recession period. The implemented austerity measures triggered unprecedented socio-economic disparities and indirect environmental deterioration, overly affected the well-being status of the country, resulting even in negative values of GPI. It is evident that the challenging conditions currently being experienced by Greece make it a unique case study. A Beyond GDP perspective could provide further insights into the potential evolution of various social, environmental and economic parameters in the aftermath of financial and recession shocks. In the context of a developed economy grappling with significant economic turbulence, the measurement of well-being and sustainability deterioration could provide important insights to the capacity of the alternative indicators to capture the actual magnitude of these transformative forces.