SEOUL - International experts Tuesday began a four-day meeting focusing on ways to measure the wellbeing of the world rather than purely its wealth.

The forum organised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) follows a call by G20 leaders at their September summit for statistics "to better take into account the social and environmental dimensions of economic development."

The meeting in the South Korean port city of Busan will also push ahead with the recommendations of an expert commission set up by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on the subject.

Experts increasingly see gross domestic product (GDP) - the total value of good and services produced in a country - as an inadequate measure of human progress.

The Sarkozy commission chaired by Nobel prizewinning economist Joseph Stiglitz wants to move away from a system of indicators based on production to one based on people's wellbeing.

It says these should assess the levels of freedom, security and contentment as well as economic and ecological resources.

The forum on "Statistics, Knowledge and Policy: Charting progress, building visions, improving life" brings together experts on the environment, development, business and social issues.

It seeks to discuss and develop statistics needed in a range of areas to assess the quality of life.

Stiglitz will be among nearly 200 speakers in Busan, along with OECD secretary general Angel Gurria and Slovenia's President Danilo Turk. The forum will consider the role that key indicators can play in underpinning democracy and effective policymaking.

Gurria in comments last month warned of a growing gap between what official statistics say about the economy and how people see the condition of their daily lives.

"This gap can be clearly damaging both to the credibility of political debate and action and to the very functioning of democracy in our countries," he said.

The idea of replacing GDP was pioneered by the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Starting in the 1970s, the then-monarch Jigme Singye Wangchuck promoted "Gross National Happiness" as the goal of development rather than gross domestic product.