GDP is the broadest quantitative measure of a nation's total economic activity. More specifically, it represents the monetary value of all goods and services produced within a nation's geographic borders over a specified period of time.
Yes and no - how is that for an answer?
Technically, GDP is an accepted measure of economic wealth. However, a point can be made to use GNP (gross national product); the difference is whether the focus is on the country as a geographic entity (GDP) or a citizenship (GNP).
Then, growth is an appealing indicator, but there is a also a case for using absolute levels as indicators of performance; or at least, for comparative purposes, levels per capita such as GDP/resident or GNP/citizen. If I were to use growth as a performance indicator, then I would describe it as "growth performance". For instance, even aside from questions about the reliability of data, the recent growth of China may have been impressive - but it remains a "middle income" country. For a take on country classifications, see: Martin, X., & Li, C. 2015. What do we know about state-owned emerging-economy firms, and how? Evaluating literature about inward and outward multinational activities. In L. Tihanyi, E. R. Banalieva, T. M. Devinney, & T. Pedersen (Eds.), Advances in International Management, Vol. 28: 403-439. Bingley, U.K.: Emerald.
This also brings us to the question of whether GDP or GNP measure the "right things", and from what or whose standpoint. Here, rather than go in depth into the debate, which pertains largely to whether dimensions of human welfare are missing in economic statistics and whether certain externalities are ignored, I recommend two well-stated if largely opposite views on the topic:
Fleurbaey, M. 2009. Beyond GDP: The quest for a measure of social welfare. Journal of Economic Literature, 47(4): 1029-1075.
van den Bergh, J. C. J. M. 2009. The GDP paradox. Journal of Economic Psychology, 30(2): 117-135.
Though GDP is an aggregate term, it lacks internal consistency. hence it is not a reliable measure of the economic performance. it does not indicate the over all performance of the economy, rather portray the monetary dimension of the result of economic activities, irrespective of the sectoral contributions. A country's economic performance must be in synchronization with the growth of various sectors.
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