The Social Progress Index scores what life is actually like in each country — health, safety, education, rights, opportunity — independently of GDP. Explore social progress across 196 countries, including 171 with full Index scores and complete 1990–2023 coverage.
| # | Country | Region | Value | Percentile | Δ since first year |
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This is how the 8 regions compare.
The full trajectory of one country: overall score, the three dimensions, all twelve components, and its position among peers over time.
As many entities as you want, at every level of the index — freely mix countries, regions, and economic blocs (e.g. United States vs European Union, or United States vs G7) — across any of 68 metrics, component radar profiles, a percentile heatmap of all 52 indicators, and a gap analysis showing exactly where each one leads or lags.
| Country | Rank | SPI | BHN | FoW | Opp | Δ start |
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Only officially ranked countries appear here (partial-data countries are shown on their profile pages). This only includes Social Progress Index scores and the dimension scores. Year-on-year movement (▲▼) is computed from score order; Δ is against each country's first available year.
| # | ± | Country | Region | Social Progress Index | Basic Needs | Foundations of Wellbeing | Opportunity | Δ since start | Δ rank since start |
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Over the past decade, the Social Progress Index has become a leading tool for understanding how well societies meet people's needs and create opportunities for all. Looking beyond economic performance, it measures the outcomes that directly shape people's lives, from nutrition, safety, health and education to environmental quality, rights and inclusion.
Governments, businesses, researchers and civil society organizations use the Social Progress Index to identify strengths and vulnerabilities, allocate resources more effectively, assess risks and opportunities, and inform better policies and strategies.
The Social Progress Index was developed by the non-profit Social Progress Imperative, based on a framework created by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School and Scott Stern of MIT. It draws exclusively on social and environmental outcome indicators, capturing what people actually experience rather than the resources invested or policies adopted. The framework has been applied at national and subnational levels around the world, including countries, states, cities and local communities.
The Social Progress Index Time Series provides a uniquely comprehensive view of how social progress evolved between 1990 and 2023. With complete coverage for 171 countries and partial coverage for a further 25, it enables users to explore where progress accelerated, stalled or reversed, and how trajectories differ across countries and dimensions of the Index.
The Social Progress Index measures social and environmental outcomes using 52 indicators, grouped into 12 components and three dimensions: Basic Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity. Together, these dimensions assess whether people have the essentials of life, the foundations to sustain their wellbeing, and the freedom and opportunity to reach their full potential.
An overall Social Progress Index score is calculated only for countries with sufficient data to produce scores for all 12 components and all three dimensions. This ensures that every overall score reflects the complete Index framework.
The Index fully captures social outcomes from 1990 to 2023 for 171 countries, eight global regions, the European Union, the African Union, and the world as a whole. A further 25 countries are covered partially.
The visualization presents annual SPI scores calculated using a consistent methodology, supporting comparisons across countries and over time. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher values indicating greater social progress. For full details on how the Index is constructed and interpreted, see the Social Progress Index Time Series methodology.
Harmacek, J., and Khan, S., M. (2026): Social Progress Index Time Series: 1990–2023 Update. Social Progress Imperative. Washington, DC.
Harmacek, J., and Khan, S., M. (2026): Social Progress Index Time Series: 1990–2023 Update. Methodology Summary. Social Progress Imperative. Washington, DC.
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