UAE ranks second in region on 2024 Social Progress Index

MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)

The UAE has clinched the second spot in the Middle East Region, securing a global rank of 51st in the 2024 Social Progress Index published by the US-based non-profit Social Progress Imperative (SPI).
With a total score of 72.92 out of 100, the UAE trails only Kuwait in the region. Meanwhile, Qatar claimed the 65th position, while Oman ranked 68th. Jordan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia held the 84th, 89th, and 90th, positions, respectively.

The 2024 Social Progress Index framework focuses on three key areas: basic needs (nutrition and medical care, water and sanitation, housing and safety), foundations of well-being (basic education, information and communication, health and environmental conditions), and opportunities (rights, freedoms, inclusivity, and higher education).

Utilising its 12 components and 57 indicators, the Global Social Progress Index assesses the social performance of 170 countries comprehensively and an additional 26 countries partially. It serves as a supplementary tool to GDP and other economic indicators, shedding light on how people worldwide live and identifying those who are being left behind.

The top five countries globally on the index are Denmark (90.38), followed by Norway (90.32), Finland (89.96), Iceland (89.57), and Sweden (89.09), while South Sudan ranked last with a total score of 25.93.
The Global Social Progress Index revealed that the world has declined overall in social progress for the first time, with the global score dropping by 0.31 points from 2022 to 2023.

This decline is primarily attributed to deteriorating scores in Health, Information and Communications, Rights, and Voice. Presently, four out of five people worldwide live in countries where social progress is either stagnant or regressing, according to the report.

Drawing from 13 years of data spanning 2011 to 2023, the Global Social Progress Index remains the sole global measurement tool meticulously focusing on the non-economic dimensions of social performance in a comprehensive and systematic manner.