Social Progress Index
Also called: SPI · Topic: Measuring Development: Income, HDI and Sustainability · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Social Progress Index (SPI) measures how well a society meets its people's social and environmental needs. The Social Progress Imperative launched it in 2013. It counts only outcomes, meaning what people actually experience. It uses no economic inputs such as GDP. It has three dimensions:
- basic human needs,
- foundations of well-being,
- opportunity.
Example
In December 2022, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), with the Institute for Competitiveness, released an SPI for India's states and districts. It ranks them on outcomes such as nutrition, shelter, safety and access to education, not on income.
Don't confuse with
- Human Development Index (HDI): the HDI includes income (GNI per capita) as one of its three dimensions. The SPI leaves economic measures out entirely.