Sweden ranked most socially advanced country in the world in new Social Progress Index

New York, 11 April 2013 — Sweden was found to be the most socially advanced country in the world, followed by Britain, Germany, the USA, and Japan according to the recently launched Social Progress Index.

Michael E. Porter, renowned Harvard Business School Professor and The Social Progress Imperative lead the team that designed the Social Progress Index, a ranking of 50 countries by their social and environmental performance. The index was released at the Skoll World Forum, the premier international platform for accelerating entrepreneurial approaches and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing social issues.

“At Deloitte, we believe that business plays a fundamental role in shaping and creating the society of the future. We will only resolve the big issues we face today, globally and regionally, through government, business and civil society working together in new and innovative ways to design and deliver solutions that create a sustainable and prosperous future for all,” said Heather Hancock, Managing Director at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. “We believe the Social Progress Index will make it easier for business to understand where and how it can get involved, helping to prioritize social investment decisions, and galvanize collective action.”

The Social Progress Index is distinctive for being based entirely on social and environmental measures covering basic human needs, foundations of well-being and opportunity. The Index shows where nations should focus their efforts to improve the well-being of their people. It uses a rigorous statistical technique and the best available data from internationally recognized sources, including the World Bank and the World Health Organization. The Index was developed in collaboration with economists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and leading international organizations in social entrepreneurship, business, philanthropy, and academia including Cisco, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), Skoll Foundation, Fundación AVINA, and Compartamos Banco.

To download the full report or for additional details, please visit: http://social-progress.org/

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