Beyond GDP: what Multidimensional Measures of Poverty and Well-being add to Dashboards and Composite Indices

The United Nations Committee for Development Policy’s Beyond GDP background paper (No. 60, 2025), written by Sabina Alkire, Maya Evans, and James Foster, presents a transformative vision for how nations measure progress, shifting from purely economic indicators like Gross Domestic Product (GDP) toward multidimensional measures that better capture human and social development. At its heart, the paper argues that to achieve sustainable, equitable growth, the world must evaluate prosperity through the lived realities of people: their health, education, relationships, environment, and overall well-being.

The Beyond GDP agenda, rooted in the UN’s 2024 Pact for the Future, seeks a global framework that measures human progress “beyond income, beyond averages, and beyond today.” The movement responds to the inadequacy of GDP as a sole barometer of development, particularly its inability to reflect inequalities, environmental degradation, and social well-being. Building on the legacy of the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission (2009) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the initiative proposes multidimensional metrics that more accurately capture the complexity of social progress.

The report proposes eight criteria for new indicators: clarity, multiple indicators, people-centered design, minimum standards, pluralism, policy relevance, inclusivity, and sustainability. These criteria emphasize that measurement systems should not only track aggregate outcomes but also reflect the distribution of well-being within societies.

Among the several strategies outlined, counting-based indices stand out for their clarity, disaggregation, and direct policy applicability. They allow governments to identify who is left behind and in what specific ways, an essential feature for targeted social development interventions.

The authors recommend a suite of counting-based measures as the foundation of the Beyond GDP framework:

• Global MPI: Measures acute poverty across developing countries using indicators in health, education, and living standards.
• Moderate MPI: Expands analysis to middle-income countries, capturing deprivations beyond survival needs, including digital access and gender equity.
• National MPIs: Customized poverty measures that reflect national priorities and guide domestic policies.
• Multidimensional Well-being Index (MWI): Inspired by Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) Index, this proposed tool measures well-being through broader dimensions such as community, culture, psychological health, and environmental balance.

These metrics collectively reframe social development as both the reduction of deprivation and the enhancement of human capabilities. They encourage nations to focus on empowerment, inclusion, and the quality of life rather than material accumulation alone.

In conclusion, Beyond GDP envisions a future where social progress is measured not by what economies produce, but by how societies enable people to thrive sustainably. By integrating multidimensional poverty and well-being measures, the UN aims to build a global framework that illuminates inequalities, promotes social cohesion, and ensures no one is left behind. As the authors note, these indicators are not perfect, but they are “fit for purpose” — tools to guide humanity toward a fairer, happier, and more flourishing world.

To read the full paper, please click here.