While Gross Domestic Product measures the value of what is produced in the country, Gross National Product measures how much of that value stays in the country. Gross National Product differs from GDP, by Net Factor Income, which for Ireland is mostly an outflow of profits of foreign-owned multinationals here.
As we saw in GDP, that statistic counts money that is made here but does not stay here. GNP deducts the part that leaves the country and gives a more meaningful indicator of the Irish economy.
Gross National Income (GNI) is a similar measure to Gross National Product. The difference between them are the subsidies the European Union (EU) pay to us, and the taxes we pay to them. The EU pay subsidies to Irish producers in activities such as farming, and customs duties are paid to the EU by Irish resident firms and households. These taxes and subsidies are quite small relative to the total, so GNI and GDP are more or less the same, but GNI gives a more precise picture of the national economy.
In summary then, Gross National Product (GNP) is:
Gross National Income (GNI) is
After these adjustments, GNP and GNI are largely made up of compensation of employees paid here to workers, profits of Irish-owned enterprises, the consumption of fixed capital on all fixed assets here, Taxes received by the government, and any investment income of enterprises here (such as dividends from overseas subsidiaries).
GNP and GNI are calculated as part of National Accounts all around the world and so can be compared between countries. In Ireland we also calculate Modified GNI to give an even more precise indicator of the domestic economy.
