The economic indicator that measures total income earned by a country’s residents and businesses, regardless of where the income is generated, is Gross National Income, or GNI.
GNI starts with Gross Domestic Product and adjusts for income flowing across borders: it adds income residents receive from abroad and subtracts income paid to foreign residents. It therefore follows the economic ownership or residence of income earners rather than the geographic location of production.
That distinction separates GNI from GDP. A foreign-owned factory operating domestically contributes to the host country’s GDP, but profits sent to foreign owners are not part of that country’s GNI. Conversely, income earned abroad by the country’s residents is included in GNI. Gross National Product is a closely related production-based measure and is conceptually equivalent to GNI, though the two may be estimated from different data.
“Gross” means depreciation of capital has not been deducted; subtracting depreciation leads toward a net national measure.