Preface
The well-being of individuals and households attracts much attention from decision makers, media and the public in general and statistical offices have experienced a growing demand for official statistics to shed light on people’s well-being and the state of society ‘beyond GDP’. Well-being refers to the different aspects of life that are crucial to meeting human needs and the ability and freedom to pursue one's goals, to thrive and feel satisfied with life. It is a multidimensional concept that encompasses economic, social and environmental dimensions.
Human well-being covers all aspects of life, which makes the measurement complex. While many statistical offices have experience in compiling and disseminating well-being indicators, practices differ among countries. In 2023, the Bureau of the Conference of European Statisticians therefore established a task force to develop guidance to support countries that produce or consider producing well-being indicators and promote international comparability. These Guidelines are the result of the work of the task force.
The Guidelines focus on the measurement of well-being ‘here and now’, a subset of a broader conception of well-being that also considers well-being ‘elsewhere’ and ‘later’. The Guidelines outline key concepts and principles for the measurement of well-being, recommend dimensions and indicators of well-being, and give guidance on the communication of well-being indicators and the development of a national framework for measurement of well-being.
The Guidelines adopt the multidimensional approach to measuring well-being of the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi report on measurement of economic performance and social progress (2009) and draw on existing frameworks for measuring well-being, including the Conference of European Statisticians Recommendations on Measuring Sustainable Development, OECD’s Framework for Measuring Well-being and Progress and Eurostat’s Quality of Life Indicators.
The Guidelines are targeted at national statistical offices. Others interested in the compilation and use of well-being indicators may also find the Guidelines useful.
The Guidelines were endorsed by the 73rd plenary session of the Conference of European Statisticians in 2025.