Report on Equitable and Sustainable Well-being

In this first Report on “Equitable and Sustainable Well-being” (Benessere  Equo e Sostenibile – Bes) the National Council for Economics and Labour  (Cnel) and the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) present the  results of an inter-institutional initiative  which places Italy in the forefront of the international panorama for the  development of well-being indicators going “beyond GDP”.

In recent years, the debate on how to measure the well-being of individuals  and societies has been of primary interest to global public opinion. The  crises of the last few years (food, energy and environmental, financial,  economic and social) have made clear the urgent need to develop new  statistical measures capable of guiding decision-makers in policy making,  as well as firms’ and citizens’ individual behaviours.

While gross domestic  product (GDP) remains undeniably important as a way to measure national economic results, it is essential to complement it with economic,  environmental and social indicators able to provide a comprehensive  assessment of society’s conditions and progress.