Beyond GDP Country Support Hub

To better plan policies and measure progress, countries need policy-relevant, methodologically sound indicators that complement GDP while gauging the well-being of people and the planet.

The Country Support Hub on Beyond GDP, hosted by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), supports governments in advancing the practical use of economic measures that go beyond gross domestic product (GDP). The Hub brings together technical support, learning resources, and peer exchange to help integrate measures of well-being, sustainability, and inclusion into national policy and planning processes, alongside GDP.

The Hub places strong emphasis on country leadership and institutional alignment, ensuring that new metrics are grounded in national priorities and embedded within existing planning, budgeting, and statistical systems. By doing so, it supports more informed decision making that reflects long-term social, environmental, and economic considerations.

Why Beyond GDP?

GDP remains the dominant indicator used to assess economic performance, yet it captures only market activity and omits many dimensions that shape societal well-being and long-term development. Environmental degradation, inequality, unpaid care work, and long-term risks are largely invisible in conventional economic statistics, limiting their usefulness for forward-looking policy.

Governments are increasingly exploring complementary approaches, such as well-being indicators, natural capital measures, care economy metrics, and asset-based approaches, including comprehensive wealth to better reflect what matters for people and sustainability. These approaches help link economic policy more directly to priorities such as climate action, social inclusion, resilience, and intergenerational well-being.

At the global level, momentum has accelerated following the Pact for the Future, adopted at the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024, which called for advancing measures of sustainable development beyond GDP. As international discussions move toward implementation, there is growing demand for country-level pilots, applied learning, and institutional support. This work is further informed by a recent publication by the UN Secretary General’s High Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP, which sets out practical pathways for advancing and institutionalizing measures of sustainable development beyond GDP at national and international levels, reinforcing the need for applied country support and piloting.

IISD’s Experience

IISD has extensive experience working with governments to develop and apply beyond GDP approaches in real policy settings. Through long-term, country-led engagement and partnerships with UN agencies, academia, civil society, and youth networks, IISD has supported countries in the Caribbean, Africa, and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Trinidad and Tobago, Ethiopia, Canada, and Zambia.

IISD’s work focuses on translating beyond GDP concepts into tools and processes that are policy relevant, methodologically sound, and usable by decision-makers. This includes experience with well-being frameworks, natural capital and environmental economic accounting, and broader asset-based perspectives that support long-term development planning.

What the Hub Does

The Country Support Hub on Beyond GDP serves as a platform for applied support and exchange across countries and institutions. Key areas of activity include

technical support and advisory services to help governments design, adapt, and use beyond GDP indicators within national planning and decision-making processes;
development of practical guidance for policy-makers, drawing on international experience and country examples where alternative indicators are already informing planning, budgeting, or performance frameworks;
capacity building and learning, including online tools and targeted training, to support policy-makers, analysts, statisticians, and future decision-makers.
convening and peer learning through regional and global workshops and exchanges that focus on practical challenges and solutions for applying beyond GDP approaches; and
stewardship of a growing community of practice, connecting governments, international organizations, civil society, the private sector, and youth engaged in beyond GDP work.

Country Pilots and International Collaboration

The Hub supports country pilots and technical exchanges in collaboration with international partners, including UN agencies and regional commissions. This includes work with national statistical authorities and line ministries to

explore tools and methods for compiling beyond GDP metrics, including dimensions such as gender, disability, care, and environmental sustainability;
build a shared understanding between producers and data users across government; and
test and refine metrics through country pilots, peer learning, and expert support, ensuring relevance to national policy questions and institutional contexts.

Working With Governments

The Country Support Hub on Beyond GDP is actively looking to partner with government institutions interested in piloting, adapting, or strengthening beyond GDP approaches in national policy, planning, and statistical systems.

We welcome engagement from ministries of finance, planning, environment, social development, national statistical offices, and other public agencies seeking to explore how well-being, sustainability, care, and complementary economic indicators can better inform decision making. Governments interested in collaborating are invited to get in touch to discuss opportunities for country pilots, peer learning, and technical exchange.

IISD is an UNCTAD-implementing agency on beyond GDP.

Funded by IDRC.