About the High-Level Expert Group

Over recent decades, there has been growing recognition of a harmful anachronism at the heart of global policymaking: our leading measures of development and progress overlook many aspects that sustain life and contribute to human well-being, while placing disproportionate value on activities that deplete the planet. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while a useful economic metric, does not adequately reflect the multidimensional nature of sustainable development. This tension has become increasingly salient in the context of climate change, deteriorating ecosystems and biodiversity loss, rising conflict and food insecurity, and historic inequalities.

When adopting the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, Member States committed to the development of measures of progress that complement GDP by 2030. In Our Common Agenda and the supporting Policy Brief on Valuing What Counts: Framework to Progress Beyond Gross Domestic Product, which built on the Valuing What Counts: United Nations System-wide Contribution on Beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report by the High-Level Committee for Programmes (HLCP), the Secretary-General elaborated the case for this initiative.

In the Pact for the Future, Member States reaffirmed the need to develop and institutionalize measures of progress that complement, or go beyond, GDP, recognizing that “sustainable development must be pursued in a balanced and integrated manner”. Member States requested the United Nations Secretary-General to establish an independent High-Level Expert Group to advance the work on Beyond GDP.

On 7 May 2025, the Secretary-General appointed the High-Level Expert Group.

Objectives

The High-Level Expert Group is tasked with elaborating a conceptual framework that identifies key dimensions of progress, and developing an initial list of corresponding country-owned, universally-applicable indicators of sustainable development to form a dashboard that equips governments with the information they need. Complementary metrics are crucial to expand the data on which policy decisions and prioritizations are made. Ultimately, these metrics can drive behavior change in how societies think about and pursue progress.

In addition, the Expert Group will provide guidance on the deployment of the dashboard to maximize its uptake, and on priorities for data collection and statistical capacity to operationalize the dashboard and indicators.

As requested in the Pact for the Future, the Expert Group will closely consult with Member States and key stakeholders, taking into account the work of the Statistical Commission, and building on the global SDG indicators framework.