This document provides an overview of the 2016 Social Progress Index, which measures social and environmental outcomes in 153 countries. It discusses the framework and methodology used to create the index, presenting results by dimension, component, and country/region. Key findings include: - Countries with high social progress tend to be wealthy, like Finland and Canada at the top, while poorer countries rank lower, like Central African Republic and Afghanistan. - However, social progress does not perfectly correlate with GDP, as countries can achieve similar social outcomes with different levels of wealth. - Younger people are more likely to live in lower social progress countries than older populations. - Latin America generally ranks in the middle, with Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay

1. SOCIAL
PROGRESS
IMPERATIVE
2016 SOCIAL PROGRESS
INDEX

2. Social Progress Index #socialprogress
A COLLABORATIVE INITIATIVE

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WITH THE SUPPORT OF ACADEMIA

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Professor Scott Stern
School of Management
Distinguished Professor
of Technological
Innovation,
Entrepreneurship and
Strategic Management,
MIT
Professor Michael E. Porter
Chair
Bishop William Lawrence
University Professor at the
Harvard Business School.
WITH THE SUPPORT OF ACADEMIA

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Economic
Development
GDP per capita
THE DUAL CHALLENGE OF DEVELOPMENT
Social
Progress
SOCIAL PROGRESS AFFECTS ECONOMIC GROWTH AND
VICE VERSA

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MEASURING WHAT REALLY MATTERS
“In an increasingly performance-oriented society,
metrics matter. What we measure affects what we do.
If we have the wrong metrics, we will strive for the
wrong things.”
Joseph Stiglitz, Amartya Sen, Jean-Paul Fitoussi
Mismeasuring Our Lives
6

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WHAT IS THE SOCIAL PROGRESS INDEX?
7

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SOCIAL PROGRESS INDEX: DESIGN PRINCIPLES
8
Outcomes – not inputs
Actionability
Relevant to all countries
Exclusively social and
environmental indicators

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Social Progress Index
OpportunityFoundations of WellbeingBasic Human Needs
Nutrition and Basic Medical Care
Water and Sanitation
Shelter
Personal Safety
Access to Basic Knowledge
Access to Information and
Communications
Health and Wellness
Environmental Quality
Personal Rights
Access to Advanced Education
Personal Freedom and Choice
Tolerance and Inclusion
SOCIAL PROGRESS FRAMEWORK: 3 DIMENSIONS
AND 12 COMPONENTS

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THE TWELVE COMPONENT STRUCTURE PROVIDES THE
GUIDELINES
Necesidades Humanas Básicas Oportunidades
Nutrition and Basic Medical Care
Do people have enough food to eat
and are they receiving basic medical
care?
Water and Sanitation
Can people drink water and keep
themselves clean without getting
sick?
Shelter
Do people have adequate housing
with basic utilities?
Personal Safety
Are people able to feel safe?
Access to Basic Knowledge
Do people have the educational
foundations to improve their lives?
Access to Information and
Communications
Can people freely access ideas and
information from anywhere in the
world?
Health and Wellness
Do people live long and healthy lives?
Environmental Quality
Is this society using its resources so
they will be available to future
generations?
Personal Rights
Are people free of restrictions on their
rights?
Personal Freedom and Choice
Are people free of restrictions on their
personal decisions?
Tolerance and Inclusion
Is no one excluded from the
opportunity to be a contributing
member of society?
Access to Advanced Education
o people have the opportunity to
achieve high levels of education?
Índice de Progreso Social
Fundamentos del Bienestar

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INDICATOR DATA SOURCES
Hard
data
Expert
analysis
Survey
data

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Basic Human Needs Opportunity
Nutrition and Basic Medical
Care
 Undernourishment
 Depth of food deficit
 Maternal mortality rate
 Child mortality rate
 Deaths from infectious diseases
Water and Sanitation
 Access to piped water
 Rural access to improved water source
 Access to improved sanitation facilities
Shelter
 Availability of affordable housing
 Access to electricity
 Quality of electric supply
 Household air pollution attributable deaths
Personal Safety
 Homicide rate
 Level of violent crime
 Perceived criminality
 Political terror
 Traffic deaths
Access to Basic Knowledge
 Adult literacy rate
 Primary school enrollment
 Lower secondary school enrollment
 Upper secondary school enrollment
 Gender parity in secondary enrollment
Access to Information and
Communications
 Mobile telephone subscriptions
 Internet users
 Press Freedom Index
Health and Wellness
 Life expectancy at 60
 Premature deaths from non-communicable
diseases
 Obesity rate
 Suicide rate
Environmental Quality
 Outdoor air pollution attributable deaths
 Wastewater treatment
 Greenhouse gas emissions
 Biodiversity and habitat
Personal Rights
 Political rights
 Freedom of speech
 Freedom of assembly/association
 Freedom of movement
 Private property rights
Personal Freedom and Choice
 Freedom over life choices
 Freedom of religion
 Early marriage
 Satisfied demand for contraception
 Corruption
Tolerance and Inclusion
 Tolerance for immigrants
 Tolerance for homosexuals
 Discrimination and violence against
minorities
 Religious tolerance
 Community safety net
Access to Advanced Education
 Years of tertiary schooling
 Women’s average years in school
 Inequality in the attainment of education
 Globally ranked universities
 Percentage of tertiary students enrolled in
globally ranked universities
Social Progress Index Complete Framework (53 indicators)
Foundations of
Wellbeing

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INDICATOR DATA SOURCES
Hard
data
Experts
analysis
Survey
data

14. WHAT DOES THE SOCIAL
PROGRESS INDEX TELL US
ABOUT THE WORLD?

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IF THE WORLD WERE A COUNTRY, IT WOULD RANK
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN KYRGYZSTAN AND MONGOLIA
15
Basic Human
Needs
Foundations of
Wellbeing
Opportunity

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THE WORLD IS DOING BEST IN AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN THE
FOCUS OF THE MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
16
Basic Human
Needs
Foundations of
Wellbeing
Opportunity

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THE WORLD STRUGGLES MOST WITH PERSONAL RIGHTS
AND TOLERANCE AND INCLUSION
17
Basic Human
Needs
Foundations of
Wellbeing
Opportunity

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THOUGH NOT THE WORST AREA OF PERFORMANCE,
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY IS AT RISK OF GETTING WORSE
18
Basic Human
Needs
Foundations of
Wellbeing
Opportunity

19. WHAT DOES THE SOCIAL
PROGRESS INDEX TELL US
ABOUT COUNTRIES?

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SOCIAL PROGRESS INDEX 2016 RESULTS MAP
AVERAGE SPI: 62.88 PTS
20

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TOP 10
21
Country GDP PPP per capita SPI
1 Finlandia $39,285.52 90.09
2 Canada $42,105.87 89.49
3 Dinamarca $42,855.74 89.39
4 Australia $42,588.08 89.13
5 Suiza $54,826.12 88.87
6 Suecia $43,609.06 88.8
7 Noruega $63,420.68 88.7
8 Holanda $45,794.01 88.65
9 Reino Unido $37,213.54 88.58
10 Islandia $40,395.76 88.45

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BOTTOM 10
22
Country GDP PPP per capita SPI
124 Liberia $780.55 45.07
125 Sierra Leona $1,658.21 44.22
126 Etiopia $1,290.09 43.5
127 Yemen $3,629.54 41.76
128 Guinea $1,184.68 41.66
129 Niger $860.10 41.63
130 Angola $7,488.00 39.7
131 Chad $1,977.64 36.38
132 Afghanistan $1,833.03 35.89
133 Rep. Centro Africana $736.36 30.03

23. WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE SOCIAL
PROGRESS INDEX AND GDP PER
CAPITA?
23

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SOCIAL PROGRESS DOES INCREASE WITH GDP PER CAPITA
BUT ECONOMIC GROWTH IS NOT THE WHOLE STORY
19
Correlation = 0.7984

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COUNTRIES CAN EXPERIENCE SIMILAR LEVELS OF SOCIAL
PROGRESS
AT VASTLY DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GDP PER CAPITA (PPP)
25
Costa Rica achieves a
level of social progress
(80.12) almost as high as
the Republic of Korea
(80.92) at less than half
the GDP per capita of
Korea ($32,385 versus
$13,698).

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WHILE OTHER COUNTRIES CAN EXPERIENCE VASTLY DIFFERENT
LEVELS OF SOCIAL PROGRESS DESPITE SIMILAR LEVELS OF GDP
PER CAPITA (PPP)
26
Estonia achieves a much
higher level of social
progress (82.62) than
Russia (64.19) at a similar
level of GDP per capita
($26,612 versus $23,293
).
$0 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000
GDP per capita (PPP)
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
SocialProgressIndex
Correlation =0.78

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QUICK WINS
COMPONENTS THAT RAPIDLY IMPROVE WITH GDP PER CAPITA
27

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STEADY IMPROVERS
COMPONENTS THAT IMPROVE WITH GDP PER CAPITA

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HARD PROBLEMS
COMPONENTS THAT IMPROVE, BUT WITH A LOT OF NOISE

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TOUGHEST CHALLENGES
COMPONENTS THAT HARDLY IMPROVE WITH GDP PER CAPITA

31. OTHER FINDINGS

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YOUNG PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO LIVE IN
LOW SOCIAL PROGRESS COUNTRIES
32
Social progress in the world looks different for
younger than for older people.
Nearly 40% of the world’s people who are
older than 55 live in countries classified as
upper middle social progress or above, while
just 22% of people aged under 25 do.
Today, youth are more likely to live in countries
that lack basic medical care and clean water, that
are less safe, less free, and less tolerant. This
gap shows the critical need to engage youth in all
countries on determining development priorities.

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ELIMINATING POVERTY IS A GOOD START,
BUT IT’S NOT ENOUGH
33
High levels of extreme poverty
are strongly correlated with low
social progress.
But countries with very
low levels of extreme
poverty aren’t uniformly
better on social progress.
Their scores range from
59.45 - 90.09.

34. SOCIAL PROGRESS IN LATIN
AMERICA

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Sub-Saharan
Africa
Central & South
Asia
Middle East & North
Africa
East Asia & Pacific non-EU Europe
Latin America &
Caribbean
European Union+ North America Oceania
SPI 49.03 53.42 60.06 64.15 65.82 70.52 84.26 85.11 89.02
Basic Human Needs 50.84 64.88 79.20 78.95 81.83 76.54 92.40 93.04 94.60
Foundations of Wellbeing 58.53 58.16 66.17 69.76 68.70 75.92 85.51 80.65 85.66
Opportunity 37.73 37.24 34.80 43.73 46.91 59.10 74.86 81.64 86.79
Nutrition and Basic Medical Care 69.17 82.75 93.28 93.82 97.87 95.36 99.20 98.85 99.34
Water and Sanitation 35.07 58.63 84.68 78.74 88.73 85.71 98.69 98.85 99.98
Shelter 42.54 57.14 74.87 76.06 78.28 73.06 86.52 90.23 86.66
Personal Safety 56.59 60.97 63.98 67.21 62.45 52.03 85.19 84.26 92.44
Access to Basic Knowledge 60.04 77.07 85.96 93.68 96.42 92.16 97.98 96.21 97.44
Access to Information and Communications 56.32 54.02 61.82 60.36 72.65 72.69 87.49 87.18 89.96
Health and Wellness 61.36 54.03 58.12 67.59 48.05 67.09 70.08 63.38 71.26
Environmental Quality 56.40 47.53 58.77 57.41 57.70 71.75 86.51 75.81 83.97
Personal Rights 40.93 37.69 16.10 21.03 31.04 64.48 83.22 83.60 97.91
Personal Freedom and Choice 49.36 54.86 56.14 69.62 54.93 66.20 78.15 83.74 87.51
Tolerance and Inclusion 41.03 26.29 32.02 36.93 37.89 58.64 66.14 72.31 81.37
Access to Advanced Education 19.59 30.12 34.93 47.36 63.80 47.07 71.94 86.88 80.38
WHEN COMPARING BETWEEN REGIONS, LATIN AMERICA IS IN
A FOURTH IN THE WORLD ...
BUT WITH GAPS IN PERSONAL SAFETY AND ACCESS TO
ADVANCED EDUCATION

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IN LATIN AMERICA, CHILE, COSTA RICA, URUGUAY AND
ARGENTINA STAND OUT FOR THEIR PERFORMANCE
Country Tier SPI Global Rank
GDP (PPP) per
capita
1 Chile Alto 82.12 25 $21,297
2 Costa Rica Alto 80.12 28 $13,698
3 Uruguay Alto 80.12 28 $18,896
4 Argentina Alto 75.2 38 *
5 Panama Medio Alto 73.02 41 $18,357
6 Jamaica Medio Alto 71.94 44 $8,446
7 Brasil Medio Alto 71.7 46 $15,029
8 Colombia Medio Alto 70.84 48 $12,096
9 Peru Medio Alto 70.09 49 $10,998
10 Mexico Medio Alto 70.02 51 $16,073
11 Ecuador Medio Alto 69.56 53 $10,431
12 Paraguay Medio Alto 67.44 60 $7,887
13 El Salvador Medio Bajo 66.36 64 $7,780
14 Rep. Dominicana Medio Bajo 65.65 70 $11,871
15 Bolivia Medio Bajo 64.73 72 $5,952
16 Nicaragua Medio Bajo 63.03 78 $4,459
17 Venezuela Medio Bajo 62.6 81 $17,286
18 Guatemala Medio Bajo 61.68 87 $6,932
19 Honduras Medio Bajo 60.64 90 $4,568
HOWEVER THE CHALLENGE IS TO GENERATE ECONOMIC
GROWTH AND SOCIAL PROGRESS

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MOST COUNTRIES IN LATIN AMERICA HAVE MANAGED TO BE
EFFICIENT IN TRANSFORMING ECONOMIC GROWTH INTO
SOCIAL PROGRESS

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COMPARING THE TOP 5 COUNTRIES IN LATIN AMERICA AGAINST
THE LAST 10 COUNTRIES THAT JOINED THE OECD
Eslovenia Rep Checa Estonia Eslovaquia Polonia Corea del Sur Hungría Israel México Chile Costa Rica Uruguay Argentina Panamá
IPS 84.27 82.80 82.62 78.96 79.76 80.92 76.88 75.32 70.02 82.12 80.12 80.12 75.20 73.02
NecesidadesHumanasBásicas 93.75 96.17 92.03 93.40 90.97 92.21 90.84 88.85 78.15 88.20 87.43 87.51 82.48 81.21
Fundamentosdel Bienestar 83.13 82.57 82.63 80.85 80.15 82.01 77.29 83.33 72.91 82.60 81.45 74.36 76.04 78.54
Oportunidades 75.92 69.66 73.19 62.61 68.16 68.55 62.52 53.78 59.00 75.56 71.48 78.50 67.08 59.31
Nutrición y CuidadosMédicos Básicos 99.45 99.29 99.38 98.79 99.18 99.13 99.00 99.17 96.81 98.07 97.42 97.71 97.29 92.67
Agua y Saneamiento 99.15 99.71 97.75 99.01 97.16 92.49 98.89 100.00 89.42 96.31 93.77 95.82 98.31 84.43
Vivienda 83.53 90.00 87.89 87.11 79.94 86.36 85.82 82.11 76.46 80.55 82.64 82.49 66.59 76.84
SeguridadPersonal 92.89 95.68 83.09 88.69 87.59 90.87 79.63 74.10 49.91 77.87 75.88 74.01 67.75 70.91
Acceso a Conocimientos Básicos 98.74 97.92 98.79 95.13 97.85 96.60 96.74 98.18 89.80 96.34 96.67 91.13 94.89 88.05
Acceso a Información y Comunicaciones 84.83 90.35 91.67 90.40 86.59 85.75 83.32 80.33 62.58 84.08 82.39 84.03 80.93 74.79
Salud y Bienestar 65.82 63.90 59.94 61.02 59.29 71.34 51.70 74.96 64.86 67.84 71.63 61.26 64.62 74.36
Calidad Medioambiental 83.13 78.11 80.14 76.86 76.88 74.35 77.39 79.86 74.38 82.16 75.12 61.03 63.73 76.97
Derechos Personales 90.90 75.70 97.73 78.61 82.02 66.28 65.43 37.76 71.70 96.59 88.63 93.18 67.20 70.61
Libertad Personal y de Elección 80.26 77.48 77.75 64.13 71.49 71.09 66.38 70.19 61.77 77.06 76.37 82.68 67.11 64.07
Tolerancia e Inclusión 67.83 57.42 48.33 50.22 52.20 60.82 53.47 34.02 48.36 71.88 68.70 82.32 74.33 61.52
Acceso a Educación Superior 64.68 68.03 68.96 57.50 66.95 75.99 64.78 73.15 54.18 56.71 52.21 55.81 59.67 41.04
WE FIND GAPS IN ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, ACCESS TO
ADVANCED EDUCATION, PERSONAL SAFETY AND SHELTER

39. Country performance is measured against a
group of 15 countries most similar in GDP
per capita (PPP) using a 4-year average.
OVER AND
UNDERPERFORMANCE ON
SOCIAL PROGRESS RELATIVE TO
ECONOMIC PEERS

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COUNTRIES OVERPERFORMING ON SOCIAL PROGRESS
RELATIVE TO GDP PER CAPITA (PPP)*
40
Some countries’ relative overperformance may be a sign of economic decline rather
than success in creating social progress (e.g., Moldova, Kyrgyzstan).
* Graphic shows only those countries overperforming by a significant amount (one or more points).
Overperformance can signal very strong performance in social progress (e.g.,
Costa Rica, New Zealand, Rwanda).

41. Social Progress Index #socialprogress
COUNTRIES UNDERPERFORMING ON SOCIAL PROGRESS
RELATIVE TO GDP PER CAPITA (PPP)*
41
Countries with natural resource wealth and countries afflicted by conflict underperform.
* Graphic shows only those countries underperforming by a significant amount (one or more
points).
But so does one of the world’s leading industrial
nations, the United States.

42. COUNTRY PERFORMANCE –
RELATIVE PERFORMANCE
ANALYSIS

43. Social Progress Index #socialprogress43

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47. THE SOCIAL PROGRESS INDEX
AND THE GLOBAL AGENDA 2030

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THESE ARE THE GOALS FOR 2030
48

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DIRECT RELATION WITH 12
THE SPI FRAMEWORK IS A METRIC FOR THE GOALS
Social Progress Index
OpportunityFoundations of WellbeingBasic Human Needs

50. Social Progress Index #socialprogress
SocialProgressIndex
THE PURPOSE OF SPI IS TO GENERATE THE
PARTNERSHIPS AND INNOVATION THROUGH WHICH
IS ACCELERATES ECONOMIC GROWTH AND
IMPLEMENTS THE TOOLS TO ENSURE THAT THIS
ECONOMIC PROSPERITY BECOMES EFFICIENTLY
AND EFFECTIVELY IN SOCIAL PROGRESS IN
WELFARE FOR THE WHOLE SOCIETY.
AND REDUCE POVERTY AND INEQUALITY BY PROMOTING THE
GENERATION OF INCLUSIVE GROWTH

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IF THE SDGS ARE MET BY 2030
AVERAGE SPI: 75 PTS

52. FROM MEASUREMENT TO
ACTION

53. Social Progress Index #socialprogress
A common language to align social interventions, promote
social innovations and increase collective social impact
Social Progress Index for the
Amazon Region of Brazil: 24
million people across 772
municipalities.
Social Progress Index for NUTS-
2 regions of EU (272), produced
by European Commission.
Social Progress
Index for 10
major cities in
Colombia.
Coca-Cola and Natura are
measuring citizen well-being at
the community level in the
rainforests of Brazil.
Partnership with other businesses
active in the region.
Collaboration with Ipsos Brazil.
Similar initiatives taking place in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and other
Latin American countries.
Detroit, MI and Somerville, MA.
Indices being designed.
Regional-level City-level Community-level
SUB-NATIONAL SOCIAL PROGRESS INDICES
53

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THANK YOU