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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | India ranks 102nd among 132 countries in Social Progress Index 2014

India ranks 102nd among 132 countries in Social Progress Index 2014

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published Published on Apr 3, 2014   modified Modified on Apr 3, 2014
-SocialProgressImperative.org


The 2014 Social Progress Index reveals striking differences across countries in their social performance, highlights the very different strengths and weaknesses of individual countries, and provides concrete guidance for national policy agendas.

The Index is the sum of three dimensions: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity. Each dimension is made up of four equally weighted individual components scored on an objective scale from 0-100. This scale is determined by identifying the best and worst global performance on each indicator by any country in the last 10 years, and using these to set the maximum (100) and minimum (0) bounds. Thus Social Progress Index scores are realistic benchmarks rather than abstract measures. The scaling allows us to track absolute, not just relative, country performance.

Overarching Findings

Social progress is distinct from economic development, though correlated with it.

Some countries with low GDP per capita are able to achieve surprising levels of social progress, while some relatively prosperous nations register levels of social progress lower than less wealthy countries. Explicitly distinguishing social progress from economic development allows us to gain deeper insight into each one.

Some aspects of social progress are more closely related to the level of economic development than others.

There is no single measure that captures all aspects of social progress.

Each dimension is distinct from the others, and each component within each dimension is also distinct.

Countries have relative strengths and weaknesses in social progress, both across dimensions and across components within dimensions. These strengths and weaknesses set the social progress agenda for each country.

The Top Three Countries

The top three countries are New Zealand , Switzerland, and Iceland and have closely grouped scores of 88.24, 88.19, and 88.07 respectively. These three countries, which are relatively small in terms of populations, score strongly across all dimensions, though there are important variations in their areas of relative strength.

New Zealand, for example, ranks first on Opportunity (with a score of 88.01) but ranks 6th in terms of Foundations of Wellbeing (and a score of 84.97); on Basic Human Needs, New Zealand registers a high absolute score of 91.74 but this measure is only 18th in terms of overall ranking. As discussed in more detail below, many advanced economies have very strong Basic Human Needs scores (with more than 20 countries scoring over 90). There is far more dispersion among leading nations in terms of Foundations of Wellbeing and particularly Opportunity.

Switzerland ranks first on Foundations of Wellbeing (89.78) and 2nd on Basic Human Needs (94.87). Switzerland ranks only 12th in terms of Opportunity (with a score below 80). This weaker performance is the result of lower scores in the Tolerance and Inclusion component (74.25) and especially Access to Advanced Education (with a score of 64.30).

Iceland, rounding out the top three, registers a more balanced portfolio across the Index: while it does not lead the rankings on any individual dimension, Iceland places within the top 10 on each dimension. Similar to Switzerland, its weakest performance is Access to Advanced Education within the Opportunity dimension, with a score of 62.84.

The Rest of the Top 10

The remainder of the top ten includes a group of Northern European nations (Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark), Canada and Australia. These countries are closely bunched, with scores of between 86 and 88. They represent a reasonably distinct "top tier" of countries in terms of measured social progress. There is clear variation among the countries in terms of strengths and weaknesses: Denmark registers the top overall score for Basic Human Needs but has a relatively weaker score for Opportunity. Australia scores strongly on Opportunity but is weaker in Foundations of Wellbeing.

The rest of the top ten includes a number of larger nations, including the Netherlands, Canada (the highest ranking member of the G-7) and Australia. It is useful to note that every Nordic country is represented in the top 10 of the 2014 Social Progress Index.

Overall, the findings from the top 10 reveal that even the strongest countries in terms of social progress have unfinished agendas and areas for improvement. This reflects our guiding principle that, properly understood, the need to measure social progress applies to all countries, not just those that are less developed.

The Next Tier

A group of 13 countries, ranging from Austria with a score of 85.11 to the Czech Republic with a score of 80.41, represent the next tier of countries in terms of social progress. This group includes a number of the world's leading economies in terms of GDP and population, including five members of the G-7: Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States, and France. Generalizations about countries' level of overall development mask striking social and environmental challenges and strengths:

The differences between these leading nations are revealing. Whereas Japan's strength is in the area of Basic Human Needs (94.72), both Foundations of Wellbeing as well as Opportunity are below 80. Japan scores particularly low in terms of Tolerance and Inclusion (61.32). In contrast, the United States scores below 90 in terms of Basic Human Needs (23rd), but demonstrates strength in Opportunity (5th). This result is heavily influenced by US leadership in Access to Advanced Education, where it ranks 1st by a considerable margin.

Germany (12th) and the United Kingdom (13th) have similar overall levels of social progress. However, Germany's rank is underpinned by its scores in Basic Human Needs and Foundations of Wellbeing, while the United Kingdom performs best in the Opportunity dimension.

These striking contrasts in areas of strength reflect not only cultural differences but also policy and investment choices. Countries such as Germany and Japan (and also EU countries such as France and Belgium) have broad safety nets. However, they register declining absolute scores when moving from Basic Human Needs, to Foundations of Wellbeing, to Opportunity. In contrast, both the United States and United Kingdom have tended to make policy choices and social commitments with a philosophy of greater individualism. They perform better on the Opportunity dimension than on Foundations of Wellbeing.

The Third Tier

A third tier of countries, ranging from Slovakia at 78.93 to Israel at 71.40, includes a diverse group of nations that have achieved significant (though not world-leading) levels of social progress. This tier includes countries at sharply different levels of economic development, ranging from Costa Rica (which significantly out-performs its rank in terms of GDP) to United Arab Emirates (which has one of the highest measured GDPs per capita in the world but is ranked 37th in terms of SPI). Clearly high GDP per capita does not guarantee social progress.

Italy is a major outlier in this third group, ranking well behind its peers in the European Union. It is the only nation from the G-7 outside the top 25, ranking at 29th with an overall score of 76.93. Italy scores poorly on Basic Human Needs (30th), with a particularly low score on Personal Safety (67.83, 49th). Italy's scores on Foundations of Wellbeing and Opportunity are somewhat better and it demonstrates relative strength in the area of Health and Wellness, where it ranks 2nd. Overall, however, Italy shows weakness on Access to Information and Communication (42nd), Ecosystem Sustainability (54th) and Personal Freedom and Choice (61st).

Some countries in the third tier, such as Costa Rica, have a relatively balanced social progress profile (with scores on each dimension ranging from 70 to 83). Other countries show far more uneven performance: Uruguay, for example, registers a distinctly low score in Foundations of Wellbeing (72.18), driven in part by an extremely poor performance in terms of Ecosystem Sustainability.

The Fourth Tier

The next tier of countries in terms of social progress is a large group of approximately 50 countries ranging from Kuwait at 40th (with a score of 70.66) to Morocco at 91st (with a score of 58.01). These countries are closely bunched in terms of their overall Social Progress Index score, but they have widely differing strengths and weaknesses which lead to diverse social progress agendas.

Some countries have significant weakness in the area of Basic Human Needs, including Latin American countries such as Peru and Colombia as well as relatively prosperous African nations such as South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. Other countries have weaknesses that are more concentrated in Foundations of Wellbeing or Opportunity. Ukraine, for example, has major weakness in terms of Foundations of Wellbeing, while Malaysia and Belarus have the greatest weakness in terms of Opportunity.

Four of the five BRICS countries are part of the fourth tier, including Brazil at 46th (with a score of 69.97), South Africa at 69th (with a score of 62.96), Russia at 80th (with a score of 60.79), and China at 90th (with a score of 58.67). India ranks outside the top 100 countries in social progress with a score just over 50.

Latin American countries are also well represented in the fourth tier. Argentina is 42nd, Brazil is 46th, and Colombia, Mexico and Peru come in 52nd and 54th, and 55th place, respectively. The fourth tier also includes the Arab countries of North Africa that register relatively tight range of scores, ranging from Tunisia (69th, 62.96) to Morocco (91st, 58.01).

The Fifth Tier

The fifth tier of countries, ranging from Uzbekistan (92st, 57.34) to Pakistan (124th, 42.40), represents a material step down in social progress from the fourth. Many of these countries also have low GDP per capita, some (including Iran) have much higher rankings in terms of GDP per capita. Iran's social progress score is sharply reduced due to its poor performance (33.82) on the Opportunity dimension.

India ranks 102nd on social progress with challenges across all three dimensions with particularly low scores on Shelter (39.77) in the Basic Human Needs dimension, Access to Information (39.87) in the Foundations of Wellbeing dimension, and Tolerance and Inclusion (21.54) in the Opportunity dimension.

Three Central Asian countries that were part of the former Soviet Union - Uzbekistan (92nd), Kyrgyzstan (93rd), and Tajikistan (95th) also fall into this group. The other Central Asian country, Kazakhstan, has achieved the fourth tier (86th).

The Bottom Tier

A group of eight countries registers the lowest levels of social progress, from Yemen (125th) to Chad (132nd). The Social Progress Index provides evidence that extreme poverty and poor social performance go hand-in-hand. However, this group also demonstrates that economic development does not guarantee social progress. For example, Chad (132nd) with a GDP per capita of $1,870 ranks well below Malawi (109th), a country with GDP per capita of just $660. Angola is an even starker illustration, ranking 127th on social progress even though its GDP per capita $5,262.

Please click here to access the full report.

SocialProgressImperative.org, April, 2014, http://www.socialprogressimperative.org/data/spi/findings


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