The calculator
Nine indicators and their sources
Each pillar holds three indicators. Each indicator is scored between a fixed worst and a fixed best value, the same for every nation.
Scroll sideways
The nine indicators of the GDR method.* Poverty is scored one of two ways, absolute poverty where it is measured and relative poverty where it is not, so it takes two rows.
| Pillar | Indicator | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ecology | Greenhouse gas intensity | Tonnes of CO2 emitted per $1,000 of GDP at purchasing power parity. | World Bank |
| Ecology | Protected area | Share of a nation's land area under formal protected status. | World Bank |
| Ecology | Material footprint | Tonnes of raw material consumed per person per year. | UN Environment Programme, International Resource Panel |
| Society | Poverty, absolute | Share of the population counted poor on several measures at once. | Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative 4 of 12: Costa Rica, India, Guyana, DR Congo |
| Society | Poverty, relative | Share of the population below half the national median income. | OECD 8 of 12: Germany, France, United Kingdom, Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, Japan, United States |
| Society | Health coverage | How far essential health services reach the population, on a 0 to 100 scale. | World Health Organization |
| Society | Top 10% wealth share | Share of net personal wealth held by the wealthiest tenth of the population. | World Inequality Database |
| Capital | Resilient product | Share of GDP not exposed to the risk of being stranded. | World Bank, as an interim proxy: 100 minus natural resource rents as a share of GDP |
| Capital | Export concentration | How concentrated a nation's exports are in a few products. | UNCTAD |
| Capital | Public debt | General government gross debt as a share of GDP. | International Monetary Fund |
107 of the 108 values for the twelve nations come from named public sources. The one gap is Guyana's material footprint, left blank, so Guyana's Ecology pillar uses two indicators.
These limits are provisional, and material footprint is marked for revision.*
From indicator to score
- Score each indicator. Its value becomes a number from 0, at the worst limit, to 1, at the best, in proportion to where it sits between them. A value past a limit is held at that limit.
- Keep every score above zero. A score below 0.01 is raised to 0.01. Without that minimum, Japan's public debt, past its worst limit, would make its whole GDR zero.
- Form the pillar. Inside a pillar the three scores are multiplied and the cube root taken (a geometric mean), with equal weights, so a low score pulls the pillar down further than a simple average would. A missing indicator drops out.
- Multiply the pillars. Ecology, Society and Capital, each between 0 and 1, are multiplied and scaled to 100.
GDR = E × S × C × 100
Three pillars at 0.80 each give 0.80 × 0.80 × 0.80 = 0.512, a GDR of 51.2. Because the pillars multiply, halving any one pillar halves GDR.
The scale is compressed on purpose. A score of 45 needs all three pillars near 0.766 at once, and 70 is out of reach of every nation tested. A score is never a percentage.
Every score carries a range
Each score has a 95% interval: the uncertainty in each value, carried through the calculation. The uncertainty depends on the kind of data behind each value.
- Tier A: a direct published measure, the smallest uncertainty.
- Tier B: a close substitute for the measure, more uncertainty.
- Tier C: an interim proxy, the most uncertainty.
The ranges overlap for most neighbouring nations. Scores are read as bands, never as a league table.
- 45 and aboveStrong in all three pillars0 of 12
- 30 to 45Solid, with one pillar holding it back4 of 12
- 15 to 30A clear deficit2 of 12
- Below 15Severe deficits6 of 12
The bands are provisional.
The twelve nations
Pillar scores are shown out of 100, as in the calculator, so GDR is E × S × C ÷ 10,000. ▸ marks each nation's lowest pillar, the one holding its GDR down.
Scroll sideways
Twelve nations scored with the GDR method.*
| Country | GDR | 95% interval | Ecology | Society | Capital | GDP per person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costa Rica | 43.4 | [33.9, 55.5] | lowest pillar 71.3 | 73.7 | 82.5 | $34,157 |
| Germany | 36.7 | [30.1, 44.9] | lowest pillar 56.7 | 72.3 | 89.5 | $76,747 |
| France | 35.5 | [29.1, 43.4] | lowest pillar 65.7 | 73.5 | 73.6 | $68,567 |
| United Kingdom | 34.7 | [28.1, 43.0] | lowest pillar 64.0 | 71.4 | 76.0 | $67,585 |
| Sweden | 25.0 | [19.2, 32.7] | lowest pillar 43.4 | 60.2 | 95.7 | $77,094 |
| New Zealand | 18.4 | [14.1, 24.0] | lowest pillar 31.2 | 66.7 | 88.5 | $58,308 |
| India | 8.8 | [7.3, 10.7] | lowest pillar 19.8 | 55.5 | 80.4 | $12,801 |
| Norway | 8.7 | [7.0, 10.8] | lowest pillar 13.0 | 89.3 | 74.7 | $115,548 |
| Japan | 6.1 | [4.7, 7.9] | 50.2 | 59.2 | lowest pillar 20.6 | $59,207 |
| Guyana 8 of 9 | 5.0 | [3.9, 6.4] | lowest pillar 25.2 | 63.4 | 30.9 | $95,477 |
| United States | 4.6 | [3.7, 5.7] | lowest pillar 18.9 | 35.1 | 69.0 | $94,430 |
| DR Congo | 1.0 | [0.8, 1.3] | 59.9 | lowest pillar 8.3 | 21.0 | $2,144 |
Guyana uses 8 of 9 indicators, and its score of 5.0* recomputes to 4.94 from its own pillars. The Institute reproduces every other row as E × S × C ÷ 10,000 to within 0.1.