A powerful call for change: UN’s High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP publishes report
On May 7th, the UN appointed High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Beyond GDP released its report ‘Counting What Counts’, proposing global norms to measure progress beyond economic output alone. The group of 14 independent experts recommends a country-owned, universally applicable set of indicators.
“GDP ignores inequality and poverty. It does not capture environmental degradation. It misses non-monetary dimensions of well-being, like health, education and peace.”
– Nora Lustig, Co-Chair, High-Level Expert Group
This release is a major milestone for measuring progress beyond GDP and oriented around sustainable and inclusive wellbeing. It is encouraging that the HLEG is pushing the agenda toward global harmonisation, and especially rewarding to see how WISE Horizons award-winning research on metrics and the WISE database have helped inform this process.
WISE Horizons particularly welcomes the report’s adoption of the Brundtland–Stiglitz framing of wellbeing, inclusion (equity), and sustainability, as it strengthens the convergence of existing metrics towards a comprehensive measurement approach.
The decision to keep the number of selected indicators relatively small also points in the right direction. We also support the HLEG’s conclusions that it is important to keep working on indexes, since these are better for communication. We are currently reviewing which of those proposed indicators are in the WISE database.
Another strong signal sent by the HLEG is the inclusion of “foundational domains” – especially planetary boundaries, which shows how important the natural limits are for societal progress. Furthermore, the HLEG has suggested indicators for 3 dimensions: 1) current wellbeing 2) inclusion/equity and 3) sustainability/resilience. This is entirely consistent with the work of WISE Horizons and other European projects, brought together in the MERGE project.
The WISE Horizons consortium looks forward to supporting the intergovernmental process which will be led by Spain and Guyana, helping turn these recommendations into a genuine shift in how societies understand, measure, and pursue progress.
Discover the report
At the report’s core is a dashboard designed to display a comprehensive assessment of progress, incorporating well-being, equity and inclusion, and sustainability. Drawing on the existing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) global indicator framework and established statistical systems, the dashboard allows governments to begin using it immediately to inform their decision-making. The report also draws attention to areas that determine progress but that are often overlooked, such as cross-country spillovers, in recognition that well-being in one country is often influenced by activities and decisions in other countries. Its recommendations will now be discussed by Member States in the General Assembly to agree on a plan to advance measures of progress at national and international levels.
(Source: Press Release, 7 May 2026)
“This report is a landmark step in correcting a longstanding blind spot in measuring progress: the over-reliance on GDP. It was designed to be a narrow metric of economic output, yet became one of the most consequential numbers for international policy —something its architects never intended. This report makes concrete recommendations for complementary indicators that measure what matters most to people and planet.”
– António Guterres, UN Secretary-General
