High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP Outlines Work Plan

A side event following the 2025 session of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) brought together stakeholders and members of the High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP to discuss expectations for the Group’s preparation of recommendations.

Following the request by UN Member States in the September 2024 Pact for the Future, the Secretary-General appointed an independent High-Level Expert Group to develop recommendations for a limited set of country-owned and universally applicable indicators that go beyond GDP. The Group’s recommendations are expected to be presented to Member States during the 80th session of the General Assembly, following which the Pact for the Future called for an intergovernmental process to consider them.

The one and one-half hour event titled, High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP: Towards Measuring What We Value: Towards Measuring What We Value, was organized by UNDESA, Spain, Morocco, and the Philippines. It took place at UN Headquarters in NY, US, and online, on 24 July 2025.

Hector Gomez Hernandez, Permanent Representative of Spain to the UN, noted that the outcome from the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) reinforced the call in the Pact for the Future for the Expert Group to develop recommendations. He informed participants that Spain launched a Coalition for Beyond GDP during the FfD4 meeting and reported that over 60 countries and partners are involved in the coalition. He said the coalition will serve as a “platform for convergence” as well as for supporting the practical application of the new metrics. He also emphasized it would be a connector among various initiatives and action oriented.

The Secretariat for the Expert Group informed participants that the group’s work plan is as follows:

Elaborate a conceptual framework to organize how we think about issue;
Identify indicators that can be used;
Assessing current data needs, future data needs, capacity to operationalize; and
Advise on how to maximize the uptake of the indicators.

Co-Chairs of the High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP Nora Lustig and Kaushik Basu identified a number of questions the Group is addressing including what the optimal number of indicators is and what dimensions need to be measured, including equity or equality, sustainability, and well-being that goes beyond what is measured in monetary terms. The Group is also considering how this process fits into the System of National Accounts and innovations that were agreed in 2025.

The Co-Chairs emphasized their desire to make the process inclusive. They also noted questions regarding whether some indicators should be dominant above others, and whether indicators should be adapted to the development level and characteristics of individual countries.

The Permanent Representatives to the UN from Morocco and the Philippines offered their reflections from the perspective of the Like-Minded Group of Middle-Income Countries. Antonio M. Lagdameo, the Philippines, stressed three key messages:

The recommendations should be anchored in the realities and priorities of developing countries, countries need to be able to adapt the indicators, and beyond GDP measures should not be used for exclusion;
The process should include efforts to strengthen data capacity; and
The process should not be viewed as simply a technical discussion of indicators, as it is part of a political discussion on reshaping development.

Lagdameo added that, as a middle-income country, the Philippines is constrained by definitions that result in misaligned development support. He noted the need to incorporate metrics that reflect vulnerability to climate costs and recovery and account for women, populations in geographically isolated areas, the cost of environmental degradation, and health, social protection and inclusion.

Omar Hilale, Morocco, recognized the need to go beyond GDP and reviewed the Like-Minded Group’s role in building bridges on this issue. He said key dimensions to incorporate into beyond GDP metrics include: human capital and well being; environmental sustainability, including climate action; social protection and inclusion; technological capacity; access to affordable finance and levels of debt; and stability, human rights, and rule of law. He stressed the importance of consultations and openness with Member States, noting that it is essential to ensure that the recommendations are rooted in the development and policy needs of the countries they are meant to serve.

During the discussion, speakers looked forward to outcome from the second World Summit on Social Development, which is taking place in November. Links to the UN World Data Forum were also noted.

Annegeke Jansen, Leiden University, announced that the Youth Moving Beyond GDP Alliance was launched at FfD4. She called for incorporating intergenerational equity, opening the framework to insights from other sectors and generations, and assessing well-being across generations. She also encouraged other youth to join the Alliance, which is run by the Beyond Lab, Rethinking Economics, and UNCTAD. [SDG Knowledge Hub sources][Concept Note for the event]