The most widely used indicator of development is GNP (gross national product).

it is calculated by adding together the total amount of goods and services divided by the total population. This gives you a figure per capita (per person).  

There are advantages and disadvantages of using GNP as an indicator of development.

An advantage is that it can be calculated for all countries although sometimes the data is not reliable.

It is often a good indicator of a countries wealth. However, the output from farming is not included in the LEDC’s wealth.

It is also very easy to compare the wealth of one country with another but some countries GNP’s are misleading due to their over reliance on production of oil and the very small populations (e.g Kuwait). This means that some countries may appear to be MEDC's but other development idicators e.g. literacy rate say otherwise.