Pushing the frontiers of measurement has always been a cornerstone of the human development approach. But it has never been measurement for the sake of measurement. The HDI has enabled innovative thinking about progress by capturing the simple yet powerful idea that development is about much more than income. Over the years the Report has introduced new measures to evaluate progress in reducing poverty and empowering women. But lack of reliable data has been a major constraint.
This year we introduce three new indices to capture important aspects of the distribution of well-being for inequality, gender equity and poverty. They reflect advances in methods and better data availability. We also present a refined version of the HDI, with its same three dimensions, but that addresses valid criticisms (link to HDRP) and uses indicators more pertinent for evaluating future progress.
