10 Best Countries for Social Progress According to 2014 Index

As a proudly Canadian contact centre, we like to keep abreast of Canada’s position on the world’s stage and we’ve explored this interest in posts like best country to live, smartest countries, the happiest countries, the  most peaceful countries, the friendliest countries, the most charitable countries, the best countries for quality of life, the best countries for business, the top countries for life expectancy, the best countries for working women, the best country for child well-being, the best countries for higher education, the most popular countries, the least corrupt countries, the countries with the best reputation, the best countries for ease of doing business, the best countries for starting a business, the best country for business, the best country for customer satisfaction, the most gay positive country, the best countries with the most competitive economies, the best countries for entrepreneurship, the most sustainable countries, the best countries to grow old, the best country brand, the best countries for business, the most sustainable countries, the most charitable countries, the most prosperous countries, the countries with the highest minimum wage, the safest countries and the best countries with the highest average salary. Today we’ll be adding the 10 best countries for social progress according to the Social Progress Index released by the Social Progress Imperative.

“Our vision is a world in which social progress sits alongside economic prosperity as the twin scorecards of success.”

The Social Progress Imperative is a nonprofit with a mission to “improve the quality of lives of people around the world, particularly the least well off, by advancing global social progress.” The Social Progress Index “provides a robust, holistic and innovative measurement tool to guide countries’ choices to enable greater social progress and foster research and knowledge-sharing on the policies and investments that will best achieve that goal.”

Social Progress is defined “as the capacity of a society to meet the basic human needs of its citizens, establish the building blocks that allow citizens and communities to enhance and sustain the quality of their lives, and create the conditions for all individuals to reach their full potential.”

The three main dimensions that formed the framework of the methodology behind the Social Progress Index were: basic human needs, foundations of well-being and opportunity. Those dimensions were further broken down into twelve components: nutrition and basic medical care, water and sanitation, shelter, personal safety, access to basic knowledge, access to information and communications, health and wellness, ecosystem sustainability, personal rights, personal freedom and choice, tolerance and inclusion, and access to advanced education. To get a comprehensive overview they then used a total of “54 indicators of social and environmental outcomes.” This was the criteria on which each country was measured and a score out of 100 was determined. Based on the resulting data, the 10 best countries for Social Progress are:

1. New Zealand – Score: 88.24. GDP: $25,857
2. Switzerland – Score: 88.19. GDP: $39,293
3. Iceland – Score: 88.07. GDP: $33,880
4. Netherlands – Score: 87.37. GDP: $36,438
5. Norway – Score: 87.12. GDP: $47,547
6. Sweden – Score: 87.08. GDP: $34,945
7. Canada – Score: 86.95. GDP: $35,936
8. Finland – Score: 86.91. GDP: $31,610
9. Denmark – Score: 86.55. GDP: $32,363
10. Australia – Score: 86.10. GDP: $35,669

Canada was the highest-ranking member of the G-7 on this list. Also, the United States came in sixteenth with a score of 82.77.

You’ll notice that though economics are incorporated into the index, there is no direct correlation between GDP and social progress. “We must move beyond simply measuring Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, and make social and environmental measurement integral to national performance measurement. Tracking social and environmental performance rigorously will inform and drive improvement in policy choices and investments by all stakeholders. Measuring social progress will also help to better translate economic gains into better social and environmental performance, which will unleash even greater economic success.”

It’s interesting to read the 2013 Social Progress Index and compare the how the social progress of the countries in the 2014 top 10 have both risen and fallen in the past year.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsQkAjR4P_0[/youtube]

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