In brief
- GCP is the principal production measure in SSI™, calculated quarterly.
- It counts verified production only, within the Sanaa Sanifu Economy, not a whole country or continent.
- A rise can mean more work, more verification of existing work, or both.
Gross Creative Product is the principal production measure within SSI™. It measures the economic output generated by verified creative production within the Sanaa Sanifu Economy, and it is calculated quarterly.
The name deliberately echoes gross domestic product, and the echo is useful. Like GDP, GCP answers a plain question at scale: what did the economy produce in this period? Like GDP, it is an aggregate — one figure summarising a vast number of individual activities — and like GDP, it should be read with an understanding of what it leaves out.
Two boundaries define GCP. First, it counts verified production only. Creative work that has not passed through verification is real, but it is outside the measured economy. Second, it measures output within the Sanaa Sanifu Economy, not the creative economy of a country or a continent.
GCP counts
- Verified creative production
- Output within the Sanaa Sanifu Economy
- Output measured each quarter
GCP leaves out
- Creative work that has not been verified
- The creative economy of a country or continent
- Value that is not recognised as production
Growth in GCP can therefore reflect more work being produced, more existing work being verified, or both. That distinction matters when GCP rises quickly in early quarters. Some of the increase may represent the economy discovering work that already existed rather than new production. A good GCP report says which.
| Cause | What it looks like | What a good report says |
|---|---|---|
| More new work | Output grows as creators produce more | How much of the rise is new production |
| More verification | Existing work enters the record | That some growth is the economy discovering work that already existed |
| Both | The two effects overlap | The split, where it can be measured |
GCP methodology and quarterly figures are published in the Reports collection.