The Social Progress Index® goes beyond GDP, and with extensive research, it pinpoints the social and environmental factors of a country’s performance. We take a systematic and comprehensive approach, using three key elements: dimensions, components, and indicators, to measure social progress effectively.
The Social Progress Index® is built on 3 dimensions, Basic Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing and Opportunity along 12 components and a list of specific indicators. This structure not only offers an overall score and ranking of different communities but also enables benchmarking on specific areas of strength, weakness and areas that may need improvement.
Supported by a global network of local partners and advocates in over 50 countries, the Social Progress Index is used to measure and track progress at a global, national and local level.
With its framework we create data insights tool useful for government leaders, academics, businesses, investors, foundations and students to have a clear map of how communities perform on social and environmental progress.
The design principles are the foundation for our conceptual framework and shape our definition of social progress.
The Social Progress Index® uses the following working definition:
"Social progress is the capacity of a society to meet the basic human needs of its citizens, establish the building blocks that allow citizens and communities to enhance and sustain the quality of their lives, and create the conditions for all individuals to reach their full potential."
This definition is the result of a thorough review and synthesis of both academic and practitioner literature covering various development topics.
It shows how well a country provides for its people’s essential needs. It assesses a population’s capacity to survive with adequate nourishment and basic medical care, clean water, sanitation, adequate shelter, and personal safety.
It highlights the extent to which a country’s residents can gain a basic education, obtain information and communicate freely, benefit from a modern healthcare system, and live in a healthy environment conducive to a long life.
Foundations of Wellbeing also measures environmental quality which is critical for current and future wellbeing.
Measures the degree to which a country’s citizens have the freedom and opportunity to make their own choices and pursue higher education. People’s rights, freedom and choice, inclusive society and advanced education all contribute to the level of opportunity within a given society. The Social Progress Index stands out by incorporating Opportunity—an aspect of human wellbeing frequently overlooked or isolated when contemplating social progress. Unlike conventional approaches that focus only on foundational needs, our framework embraces the broader spectrum of factors that contribute to true societal advancement.
Our aim is to measure social progress directly, rather than utilize economic proxies or outcomes. By excluding economic indicators, we can, for the first time, rigorously and systematically analyze the relationship between economic development (measured for example by GDP per capita) and social development. Prior efforts to move “beyond GDP” have commonly led social and economic indicators, making it difficult to disentangle cause and effect.
.png)
Our purpose is to measure the outcomes that matter to the lives of real people, not the inputs. For example, we want to measure a country’s health and wellness achieved, not how much effort is expended nor how much the country spends on healthcare.
.png)
We strive to create a holistic measure of social progress that encompasses the many aspects of the health of societies. Most previous efforts have focused on the poorest countries, for understandable reasons. But knowing what constitutes a successful society for any country, including higher-income countries, is indispensable for charting a course for all societies.
.png)
The Social Progress Index® aims to be a practical tool that helps leaders and practitioners in government, business, and civil society to implement policies and programs that will drive faster social progress. To achieve that goal, we measure outcomes in a granular way that focuses on specific areas that can be implemented directly.
Social Progress Index 1990-2020: measuring so-cietal wellbeing over 31 years. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. On-line first.
Krylová, P., Harmáček, J., Htitich, M. 2025.
Situating regional policies: how important are they in populist surge and political divides in Europe? European Planning Studies (Early Access)
Demirdag, I., Özatağan, G., Eraydin, A. 2025.
Measuring Societal Well-Being Locally: Social Progress Index for the Districts of the Trnava Region, Slovakia. Measurement-Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives. (early access)
Harmáček, J., Syrovátka, M., Krylova, P. 2025.
Economic growth, welfare, and sustainability outcomes of integrated water, energy, and food investments in Saudi Arabia. Sustainable Futures 10, 100932
Kerrouche, N., Zehri, Ch. 2025.
Just Transition Score: Measuring the relative sustainability of social progress. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators 23, 100440.
Htitich, M., Krylova, P., Harmacek, J. 2024
Sustainable financial inclusion through social progress and regularity quality interaction – Implication for least developed countries. Research in International Business and Finance 76, 102811.
Ul-Durar, S., Iqbal, M., Naveed., S., Massacci, A., Saleem, I. 2025
Natural resource extraction - Sustainable development relationship and energy productivity moderation in resource-rich countries: A panel Bayesian regression analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production 477, 143775
De Sisto, M., Ul-Durar, S., Arshed, N., Iqbal, M., Nazarian, A. 2024
