Governance & Policy
Social Progress Index (SPI)
Definition
The Social Progress Index is a composite measure, published by the nonprofit Social Progress Imperative, that aggregates dozens of outcome indicators across three dimensions — basic human needs, foundations of wellbeing, and opportunity — to assess how well societies convert resources into quality of life. It deliberately excludes economic variables, measuring social and environmental outcomes directly so that progress can be compared with, and decoupled from, GDP.
References
Source imported for editorial provenance.
Overview
How it is used
The SPI structures policy benchmarking, regional competitiveness analysis (EU regional SPI), corporate country-risk context and the beyond-GDP policy debate.
Why it matters
What gets measured gets managed; the SPI gives societies a scorecard for what actually matters, not just what is monetised.