Ukraine ranked 80th in the Social Progress Index

By its Social Progress Index indicators, Ukraine occupied the position between Algeria (79) and Kyrgyzstan (81) and remained in the group of above-average social progress countries. Based on this year’s Index indicators among the CIS countries, Ukraine was outperformed by Belarus (48), Armenia (59), Russia (62), Kazakhstan (69), and Moldova (70). Tajikistan finished the last among the CIS countries (107).

By commenting Ukraine’s SPI results for the period from 2014 to 2018, Social Progress Imperative CEO Michael Green, in particular, said, “The story of Ukrainian social progress is basically the story of flat performance. Ukraine is doing really well in education but the progress on other indicators has not been great over recent years. There are also two areas where the progress has been relatively weak compared to other countries of similar wealth: environmental quality and inclusivity”.

According to Michael Green, important finding for Ukraine is that while the social progress in Ukraine has been quite flat, there are other countries with similar level of development that actually were able to improve quite quickly. “So, improvement is possible. We don’t have to accept the status-quo and stagnation”, sums up Mr. Green.

“The Social Progress Index (SPI) allows measuring objectively to what extent technological, economic, and social developments promote the country’s social progress and are perceived by its citizens. Government leaders of the world countries use the Social Progress Index as a policy tool that helps determine development strategies and compare their outcomes with other countries from the same wealth pool. Implementation of such an instrument in Ukraine should improve the level of trust between the state and the society”, reckons Andriy Bulakh, Managing Partner, Deloitte Ukraine.
 

World

If the world were a country, it would rank 89.5th, falling between China and Saudi Arabia with the score of 64.47 (63.46 for 2018) and GDP PPP per capita of USD 15,939.

Since the SPI’s inception in 2014, the world has improved from a score of 62.16 to 64.47. However, progress has been uneven. By far, the greatest progress has been made on Access to Information and Communications (71.74), which improved by 11.49 points over the last six years. Increases in Internet access and mobile phone subscriptions, particularly, in the developing world, have played a major role.

On three components, Personal Safety, Access to Basic Knowledge, and Inclusiveness, the world’s progress has largely stagnated, with gains in some countries offset by declines elsewhere. The world has seen a worrying decline on indicators of Personal Rights since 2014, declining from 65.61 to 61.44 points, including the United States (-4.44).

According to projections based on the 2019 Social Progress Index, at its current pace of progress, the world will not achieve the SDGs until 2073.

• The Social Progress Index offers a well-suited rapid-assessment approach to help facilitate the understanding, engagement, and implementation of the SDGs;
• Measuring all 17 goals, it reflects 131 out of 169 targets in one simple framework, making it an invaluable proxy measure of SDG performance.
   

Global tendencies

• Norway tops the 2019 ranking with consistently strong performance across all components with the score of 90.95 out of 100;
• South Sudan closes the list with 149 position (24.44 out of 100);
• The highest result among the G7 countries has been demonstrated by Germany (88.84 points, 8th). Germany is followed by Canada (88.81 points, 9th) and Japan (88.34 points, 10th). The UK, France, and Italy have been ranked a little bit lower, nevertheless, they have also shown positive annual dynamics;
• The USA has been one of the four countries in the world that has demonstrated general decline in the level of social progress compared to 2014, by ranking between Estonia and Singapore. The total decrease has been caused by low indicators in such categories as Health Care, Education, Personal Rights, and Inclusiveness.
   

About the Social Progress Index

The Social Progress Index is the first holistic measure of a country’s social performance that is independent of economic factors. The Index is based on a range of social and environmental indicators that capture three dimensions of social progress: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity.

The 2019 Social Progress Index includes data from 149 countries on 51 indicators. It covers 98% of the world population. It is designed as a complement to GDP and other economic indicators to provide a more holistic understanding of countries’ overall performance. The Social Progress Index also offers a practical tool for monitoring the progress achieved against the UN targets in the area of sustainable development.

In 2019, the Social Progress Index survey has been supported by Deloitte, the Ford Foundation, and the Skoll Foundation, along with individual donors. Our web-site also lists other contributors, including the primary authors – Professors Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School and Scott Stern of MIT.
 

About the Social Progress Imperative

The Social Progress Imperative’s mission is to improve the lives of people around the world, particularly the least well off, by advancing global social progress by: providing a robust, holistic, and innovative measurement tool – the Social Progress Index; fostering research and knowledge-sharing on social progress; and equipping leaders and change-makers in business, government, and civil society with new tools to guide policies and programs. The SPI is currently widely used by the governments and companies worldwide (from the EU to India, from Brazil to other countries) to measure the social progress of the states, cities, and populated areas.