Romania slid one place and ranks 45th among 149 nations in this year’s edition of the Social Progress Index compiled by non-profit organization Social Progress Imperative with the support of Deloitte. Romania has a score of 74.8 points out of 100.

“In spite of a stable economic growth, the increase of purchasing power and the decrease of unemployment to a historical minimum, in the last year Romania has registered a slight decrease of the index on quality of life and social welfare.[...] It becomes evident from this perspective that, in order to generate social progress, public resources must be directed towards investments that generate economic development. and implicitly raising the standard of living,” explains Alexandru Reff, Country Managing Partner, Deloitte Romania and Moldova.

The research suggests Romania could afford better education, healthcare, and water and sanitation given the level of its GDP.

Romania is last among the EU states in this ranking. The position is in line with Romania’s per-capita GDP calculated at purchase power parity (PPP). For comparison, Bulgaria ranks lower in terms of GDP at PPP (51th with a score of 76.2), but better in terms of Social progress (43rd).

Compared to a sample of 15 countries with similar GDP calculated at PPP, Romania outperforms in none of the categories or subcategories evaluated by the research, but underperforms in one of the four basic categories of needs (water and sanitation) and in two of the four wellbeing categories including access to basic knowledge (and health).

The Social Progress Index measures the quality of life and social wellbeing of citizens along three main dimensions: basic needs (food and medical care, water and sanitation, shelter and personal safety), wellbeing (access to basic knowledge, access to communications and information, health and wellness, environment quality) and opportunities (personal rights, personal freedom and choice, inclusiveness, access to advanced education).

editor@romania-insider.com

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