List of countries by Social Progress Index

The Social Progress Index measures the extent to which countries provide for the social and environmental needs of their citizens. Fifty-four indicators in the areas of basic human needs, foundations of wellbeing, and opportunity to progress show the relative performance of nations. The index is published by the nonprofit Social Progress Imperative, and is based on the writings of Amartya Sen, Douglass North, and Joseph Stiglitz.^[1] The SPI measures the well-being of a society by observing social and environmental outcomes directly rather than the economic factors. The social and environmental factors include wellness (including health, shelter and sanitation), equality, inclusion, sustainability and personal freedom and safety.^[2]

On July 11, 2013, Social Progress Imperative Chairmain, and professor at Harvard Business School, Michael E. Porter addressed the United Nations 6th Ministerial Forum for Development and discussed the Social Progress Index.^[3]

2014 Social Progress Index

Country	Rank (SPI)	Social Progress Index	Rank (BHN)	Basic Human Needs	Rank (FW)	Foundations of Well-being	Rank (O)	Opportunity
New Zealand	1	88.24	18	91.74	6	84.97	1	88.01
Switzerland	2	88.19	2	94.87	1	89.78	12	79.92
Iceland	3	88.07	7	94.32	2	88.19	9	81.71
Netherlands	4	87.37	8	93.91	3	87.56	11	80.63
Norway	5	87.12	10	93.59	4	86.94	10	80.82
Sweden	6	87.08	5	94.59	9	84.71	7	81.95
Canada	7	86.95	11	93.52	17	80.31	2	87.02
Finland	8	86.91	4	94.63	11	84.17	8	81.92
Denmark	9	86.55	1	95.73	8	84.82	13	79.1
Australia	10	86.1	14	92.47	18	80.27	3	85.54
Austria	11	85.11	6	94.57	5	86.35	20	74.42
Germany	12	84.61	12	93.08	7	84.96	16	75.81
United Kingdom	13	84.56	16	91.9	19	79.47	6	82.29
Japan	14	84.21	3	94.72	21	79.25	14	78.67
Ireland	15	84.05	9	93.63	37	75.89	4	82.63
United States	16	82.77	23	89.82	36	75.96	5	82.54
Belgium	17	82.63	13	92.74	23	78.81	15	76.34
Slovenia	18	81.65	15	92.05	12	83.6	25	69.3
Estonia	19	81.28	28	87.13	10	84.39	22	72.32
France	20	81.11	19	91.23	20	79.37	21	72.72
Spain	21	80.77	22	90.22	28	76.9	17	75.19
Portugal	22	80.49	20	90.93	33	76.11	19	74.43
Czech Republic	23	80.41	17	91.77	13	83.26	29	66.21
Slovakia	24	78.93	21	90.49	14	83.25	35	63.04
Costa Rica	25	77.75	42	82.66	16	80.53	24	70.04
Uruguay	26	77.51	34	85.79	48	72.18	18	74.56
Poland	27	77.44	36	84.72	15	81.1	28	66.5
South Korea	28	77.18	24	88.69	32	76.26	27	66.58
Italy	29	76.93	30	86.73	26	77.48	26	66.58
Chile	30	76.3	39	83.85	45	72.99	23	72.06
Latvia	31	73.91	41	82.77	22	79.11	41	59.85
Hungary	32	73.87	33	86.24	50	71.91	32	63.46
Lithuania	33	73.76	48	81.47	24	77.96	38	61.84
Mauritius	34	73.68	31	86.39	54	71.43	34	63.21
Greece	35	73.43	29	86.99	41	74.85	43	58.45
Croatia	36	73.31	26	88.16	29	76.87	57	54.88
United Arab Emirates	37	72.92	25	88.62	30	76.74	60	53.39
Panama	38	72.58	57	77.39	25	77.85	37	62.48
Israel	39	71.4	35	85.77	52	71.57	50	56.87
Kuwait	40	70.66	27	87.56	44	73.11	67	51.32
Serbia	41	70.61	47	81.86	27	77.1	62	52.87
Argentina	42	70.59	54	77.77	58	70.62	33	63.38
Jamaica	43	70.39	76	69.23	31	76.34	30	65.6
Bulgaria	44	70.24	45	82.01	51	71.72	49	56.98
Malaysia	45	70	32	86.27	34	76.06	76	47.68
Brazil	46	69.97	74	71.09	38	75.78	36	63.03
Trinidad and Tobago	47	69.88	64	74.44	53	71.48	31	63.73
Albania	48	69.13	50	80.12	43	73.13	58	54.14
Macedonia	49	68.33	46	81.87	69	67.9	55	55.23
Ecuador	50	68.15	70	72.98	35	75.97	52	55.51
Romania	51	67.72	68	73.71	42	74.54	56	54.91
Colombia	52	67.24	75	69.56	39	75.72	51	56.45
Montenegro	53	66.8	51	78.91	65	69.01	65	52.48
Mexico	54	66.41	66	74.18	72	67.37	47	57.67
Peru	55	66.29	79	68.71	46	72.94	48	57.21
Philippines	56	65.86	81	66.76	63	69.17	39	61.63
Botswana	57	65.6	83	65.88	47	72.67	44	58.25
Belarus	58	65.2	38	84.13	73	67.35	91	44.13
Thailand	59	65.14	67	74.1	49	71.97	72	49.34
Armenia	60	65.03	52	78.42	62	69.27	79	47.39
Bosnia and Herzegovina	61	64.99	37	84.52	89	63.53	80	46.93
Ukraine	62	64.91	53	77.98	92	61.42	54	55.33
El Salvador	63	64.7	78	68.98	75	67.2	46	57.92
Turkey	64	64.62	43	82.1	82	64.36	77	47.41
Saudi Arabia	65	64.38	40	83.12	60	69.84	106	40.18
Georgia	66	63.94	63	75.11	70	67.64	73	49.07
Venezuela	67	63.78	85	65.47	40	75.02	68	50.86
Dominican Republic	68	63.03	84	65.78	56	71.38	66	51.93
South Africa	69	62.96	94	60.2	71	67.49	40	61.19
Tunisia	70	62.96	56	77.72	77	66.76	90	44.39
Bolivia	71	62.9	88	63.44	55	71.42	59	53.85
Paraguay	72	62.65	90	63.41	78	66.4	45	58.16
Azerbaijan	73	62.44	60	76.19	67	68.59	99	42.54
Nicaragua	74	62.33	91	63.31	57	70.91	63	52.77
Jordan	75	61.92	49	81.31	94	61.15	93	43.29
Guatemala	76	61.37	82	66.5	68	67.95	71	49.67
Honduras	77	61.28	89	63.42	59	70.57	70	49.84
Namibia	78	61.19	96	59.01	64	69.1	53	55.46
Cuba	79	61.07	44	82.1	103	58.11	95	42.99
Russia	80	60.79	72	72.15	87	63.66	81	46.58
Moldova	81	60.12	71	72.65	99	59.66	75	48.04
Guyana	82	60.06	80	68.49	102	58.36	61	53.35
Lebanon	83	60.05	65	74.35	93	61.28	89	44.52
Egypt	84	59.97	58	76.77	66	68.98	119	34.17
Sri Lanka	85	59.71	77	69.05	74	67.27	98	42.8
Kazakhstan	86	59.47	62	75.14	111	54.8	74	48.47
Algeria	87	59.13	59	76.25	83	64.25	116	36.9
Indonesia	88	58.98	87	63.65	61	69.42	92	43.86
Mongolia	89	58.97	102	53.67	85	63.67	42	59.56
China	90	58.67	69	73.02	84	63.78	110	39.21
Morocco	91	58.01	73	71.86	90	62.57	107	39.6
Uzbekistan	92	57.34	61	75.88	115	53.28	97	42.87
Kyrgyzstan	93	57.08	86	64.42	97	60.54	83	46.26
Iran	94	56.65	55	77.76	101	58.36	121	33.82
Tajikistan	95	56.05	92	62.68	96	60.88	88	44.6
Ghana	96	55.96	103	52.39	80	65.63	69	49.85
Senegal	97	53.52	101	54.11	88	63.55	96	42.9
Laos	98	52.41	97	59.01	91	61.58	118	36.65
Bangladesh	99	52.04	98	57.28	100	59.4	108	39.44
Cambodia	100	51.89	110	47.44	76	66.89	103	41.33
Nepal	101	51.58	99	57.13	98	60.12	115	37.49
India	102	50.24	100	54.48	108	56.84	109	39.39
Kenya	103	50.2	111	45.8	79	66.38	113	38.41
Zambia	104	49.88	124	38.57	86	63.67	78	47.41
Rwanda	105	49.46	106	50.14	105	58.01	105	40.23
Benin	106	49.11	109	47.76	107	57.24	100	42.33
Lesotho	107	48.94	116	43.17	119	51.07	64	52.57
Swaziland	108	48.87	105	50.26	116	53.05	94	43.29
Malawi	109	48.79	113	44.92	110	55.65	84	45.8
Republic of Congo	110	47.99	128	34.18	81	64.38	86	45.42
Uganda	111	47.75	115	43.19	95	61	111	39.05
Burkina Faso	112	47.33	121	40.16	109	56.07	85	45.75
Mali	113	46.85	112	45.73	117	52.72	101	42.11
Tanzania	114	46.06	123	38.79	106	57.27	102	42.1
Djibouti	115	45.95	95	59.82	132	41.34	117	36.68
Cameroon	116	45.51	114	44.13	114	53.73	112	38.65
Mozambique	117	45.23	119	41.19	120	49.86	87	44.64
Iraq	118	44.84	93	60.82	128	46.36	129	27.35
Madagascar	119	44.28	122	39.73	118	51.9	104	41.2
Liberia	120	44.02	125	36.77	121	48.99	82	46.29
Mauritania	121	43.11	107	49.43	112	54.03	131	25.88
Togo	122	42.8	120	40.67	113	53.78	120	33.96
Nigeria	123	42.65	126	36.57	104	58.08	122	33.29
Central African Republic	124	42.4	104	51.24	124	47.75	127	28.22
Yemen	125	40.23	108	48.5	123	47.88	132	24.31
Niger	126	40.1	129	33.74	122	48.87	114	37.7
Angola	127	39.93	118	41.67	127	46.38	124	31.75
Sudan	128	38.45	117	42.27	126	46.57	130	26.5
Guinea	129	37.41	127	36.48	130	45.02	125	30.73
Burundi	130	37.33	130	32.84	129	46.05	123	33.1
Pakistan	131	34.17	131	27.42	125	47.38	128	27.7
Chad	132	32.6	132	25.94	131	42.42	126	29.45

Methodology

The Social Progress Imperative evaluated hundreds of possible indicators while developing the Social Progress Index, including engaging researchers at MIT to determine what indicators best differentiated the performance of nations. The index uses outcome measures when there is sufficient data available or the closest possible proxies.^[4]

The three different dimensions of the model—Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity—are each weighted equally in the overall index; each of these dimensions is calculated as the sum of four components, each of which is equally weighted. Finally, each component is based on a varying number of individual indicators of social progress within that component. The component scores are calculated using a procedure called principal component factor analysis, which allows one to calculate an aggregate score from multiple indicators related to a common concept.^[4]

Report Findings

Economic development is necessary but not sufficient for social progress. A country’s overall level of development masks social and environmental strengths and challenges. At a disaggregated level, the social progress index shows areas of underperformance and success for countries at all income levels.^[5]

For example, many rich nations perform poorly on some measures^[5]

The United States (which spends the most per capita on healthcare globally) ranks 11th in terms of Health and Wellness.^[5]
Australia (7th on the Index, 6th in terms of GDP) ranks 22nd for Shelter.^[5]
Spain (10th overall, and 11th in terms of GDP) ranks 22nd for Personal Freedom and Choice.^[5]

While many poorer nations perform better than expected based on their level of income^[5]

Rwanda is 46th overall and 48th in terms of GDP but ranks 9th in terms of Primary School Enrollment.^[5]
Mozambique is 47th overall and bottom (50th) in terms of GDP, but ranks 14th in terms of Equality and Inclusion.^[5]

External links

The Social Progress Imperative Official Web Site

2015 List of countries by Social Progress Index Official Web Site

Social Progress: Beyond GDP Economist Magazine, April 18, 2013
Well-Being Gauge Looks Beyond GDP Wall Street Journal, April 11, 2013
Rival GDP Measure Puts Emphasis on Social Progress, Voice of America, April 11, 2013
Group Eyes Wellbeing, Not Finances, as Country Barometer The Chronicle of Philanthropy, April 11, 2013
The Ten Most Socially Advanced Countries in The World Business Insider April 28, 2013
Americans Want a Country More Like Sweden's ThinkProgress. June 6, 2013.

References

↑ "Beyond GDP". The Economist. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
↑ "Social Progress Index: Measuring National Progress". Social Progress Imperitive. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
↑ "Michael E Porter at the UN 6th Ministerial Forum for Development". 17 Jul 2013. Retrieved 27 Jul 2013.
↑ 4.0 4.1 "Social Progress Index 2013 Methodology" (PDF). Social Progress Imperative. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 "Social Progress Index 2013 Findings" (PDF). Social Progress Imperative. Retrieved 1 August 2013.

Lists of countries by quality of life rankings

General	World Happiness Report Happy Planet Index Human Development Index by country inequality-adjusted Legatum Prosperity Index Good Country Index Satisfaction with Life Index Where-to-be-born Index

Economic	Net take-home pay Job security Long-term unemployment rate Home ownership rate Smartphone ownership rate

Environment	Ecological footprint Environmental Performance Index Environmental Vulnerability Index Natural disaster risk

Health	Cancer rate Health care quality Health expenditure covered by government Hospital beds Risk of death from non-communicable disease Suicide rate

Social/Political	Discrimination and violence against minorities Government transparency Global Slavery Index Global Terrorism Index Social Progress Index Time devoted to leisure and personal care Women's average years in school

List of international rankings List of top international rankings by country Lists by country