Measuring human progress: the contribution of the Human Development Index and related indices

Since its launch in 1990, the Human Development Index (HDI) has been an important marker of attempts to broaden measures of progress and serves multiple functions for academics and policymakers, as well as activists. This paper reviews the contributions of the human development approach and, in particular, of the HDI in the context of the discussions and debates around the findings of the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress. We highlight the kinds of analyses and insights which have made the HDI a useful policy tool since 1990.