Measuring Development: Two Indices Give Different Views

Source:  The Economist Daily Chart

The chart shows the standard indicator of Gross Domestic Product per person as Purchasing Power Parity versus a new indicator of Social Progress. It makes the point that economic development is not necessarily a good measure of how well folk are living. Of course, very poor countries tend to have worse performance on the social progress index than do very rich countries (e.g. Chad versus Norway). But consider Angola versus the Philippines; Angola has slightly higher GDP per capita, but the Philippines are rated much higher on the Social Progress Index. Similarly consider Costa Rica versus Kuwait. Kuwait is much richer than Costa Rica, but the two have very similar measurements on the Social Progress Index.