​Over the last decade there has been a drive globally to move away from purely economic measures, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as the indicators of a nation’s well-being and progress. Approaches which draw on social and environmental, as well as economic, factors are now a common international objective. Importance is also placed on asking how individuals rate their own lives and surroundings, rather than purely focusing on objective measures of well-being.

In this context, by following the widely used “Better Life Index” framework developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Jersey’s well-being is measured and compared across 11 dimensions of well-being. The OECD is an international organisation, comprising 38 member countries and two partner countries, which has the mission of promoting policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.

A Better Life Index for Jersey was first produced and published in 2013. Subsequent reports presented updated measures for Jersey and the OECD nations and also a comparison of the Island with more than 400 sub-national regions of the OECD. 

This latest report represents a further update of the national and regional comparisons using the most recently available data from the OECD. The OECD data relates to varying reference years across indicators, with data for Jersey relating to either the same reference year or the closest year for which data is available.

On a national level, Jersey: