The Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD) “Measuring Well-being and Progress” tool offers a comprehensive framework of indicators and analytical tools designed to assess societal progress beyond GDP. It enables users to explore economic, social and environmental dimensions of well-being, facilitating structured comparison and analysis. Finance professionals may find this relevant for integrating broader risk and sustainability factors into their assessments.
Organisation behind the tool
The tool is developed and maintained by the OECD, specifically under its Centre on Well-Being, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equality of Opportunity (WISE) within the OECD Statistics and Data Directorate.
The work builds on the OECD Better Life Initiative, launched in 2011, which seeks to shift focus from GDP to multidimensional well-being metrics.
What the tool does
- Provides a multidimensional framework covering current well-being (such as income, jobs, housing, health) and future resources (such as natural, economic and human capital).
- Offers interactive dashboards, downloadable datasets and country-level comparisons via the “How’s Life?” database.
- Allows analysis of inequalities—across groups and within countries—as well as distributions, not just averages.
- Enables tracking of well-being outcomes over time and across countries or regions.
Target audience
The primary intended users are policymakers and statistical offices seeking to design or monitor well-being policy frameworks. Secondary audiences include researchers, academics, and the general public interested in societal progress metrics.
Relevance to finance professionals
- Risk assessment – exposure to hazards and long-term vulnerabilities: e.g., environmental quality, natural-capital depletion;
- ESG analysis – environmental, social and governance dimensions are embedded in the well-being framework and can inform reporting or investment screening;
- Market/commodity insights – by examining indicators linked to infrastructure, human capital and natural resources, professionals can derive context for sectors such as energy, housing, water or labour;
- Investment context – understanding long-term economic, societal and environmental trends supports scenario analysis and strategic asset allocation beyond traditional GDP-based projections.
The tool does not provide direct financial metrics or investment signals, but it offers structured data that can enrich sustainability-linked finance and strategic risk modelling.
