Based on 43 social indicators on topics such as health, education, sustainability and freedom, the NGO Imazon built the Social Progress Index (SPI) of each of the 772 municipalities of the Brazilian Amazon. Unlike other metrics – such as the Human Development Index (HDI), which also seek to verify the social development – the SPI leaves out economic variables in its composition. “Social progress is not the same as economic growth. They walk hand in hand, but there is no correlation”, explains the researcher Adalberto Verissimo, responsible for the study.
The SPI, used by Imazon, was created by the economist Michael Green, executive director of Social Progress Imperative. The index is nowadays applied worldwide by the organization and its partners. To better understand the measurement structure, watch this 15-minute lecture with the economist.
Check below the map with the data.