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Annual Report 2026

Gallup Economics

Gallup reports leading indicators to complement GDP, capturing gross domestic ambition, gross domestic payroll to population and gross domestic thriving.

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Gallup Economics 2026

Leading Indicators of Economic Growth

GDP measures what nations produce, but it misses how people’s lives are actually going. Gallup Economics 2026 is reporting three companion measures to better understand economic and social progress:

  1. Gross Domestic Ambition (GDA): the percentage of employees who are part of a culture of ambition and engagement that drives innovation, growth and competitiveness
  2. Gross Domestic Payroll to Population (GDP2P): the percentage of the entire 15 or older population — not just those currently in the workforce — who are employed full time for an employer for at least 30 hours per week
  3. Gross Domestic Thriving (GDT): how well people believe their lives are going today and how hopeful they feel about tomorrow

Together with GDP, these measures form a more complete picture of national economic growth and, critically, the direction it is heading.

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“After considering all the economic information available, all the leading indicators on which you depend, what do your instincts tell you is coming next?”

—Jim Clifton, Chairman of Gallup
20% Gross Domestic Ambition Only 20% of the world’s workers are engaged — highly ambitious and committed to their jobs.
27% Gross Dometic Payroll to Population Fewer than half the world holds a "real job” of at least 30 hours a week of paid employment with an employer.
35% Gross Domestic Thriving Just over one in three adults worldwide rate their present and future lives highly enough to be classified as "thriving."

The primary data in this report come from the Gallup World Poll, through which Gallup has conducted surveys of the world’s adult population, using randomly selected samples, since 2005. The survey is typically administered annually face to face or by telephone, covering more than 160 countries and areas since its inception. In addition to the World Poll data, Gallup collected extensive random samples of working populations in the United States (via web survey); these samples were added to the data set for this report. 2025 data included in this report were obtained from April 2025 to December 2025.

The target population of the World Poll is the entire civilian, noninstitutionalized, aged 15-and-older population.

Leading Indicators

A framework linking culture of ambition, economic growth, job growth and thriving lives

Economic path for leading indicators
Other Work

Additional Insights

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The Chairman's Blog

The Coming $100 Trillion

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