UN Launches "Beyond GDP" Report with 31 New Indicators to Redefine Global Progress

On May 7, 2026, the United Nations released a landmark report titled "Counting What Counts: A Compass of Progress for People and Planet," proposing the first global blueprint for countries to assess progress beyond Gross Domestic Product. Prepared by the Secretary-General's Independent High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP, the report presents a dashboard of 31 universally applicable indicators that complement GDP by incorporating well-being, equity and inclusion, and sustainability. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, addressing the General Assembly plenary, stated that for decades GDP has been treated as the dominant measure of national progress, yet it ignores inequality and poverty, fails to capture environmental degradation, and misses non-monetary dimensions such as health, education, and peace.

The report's co-chair, Kaushik Basu, emphasized that moving beyond GDP does not mean eschewing economic growth but rather reflecting progress across the critical dimensions of well-being for people and planet. Mandated by UN Member States under the 2024 Pact for the Future, the report draws on the existing Sustainable Development Goal indicator framework and established statistical systems, allowing governments to begin using its dashboard immediately to inform policy decisions. General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock noted that the new framework builds on decades of global efforts and represents a generational milestone in how nations measure and pursue genuine progress.