The Social Productivity Index (SPI) has been introduced, a new metric that goes beyond traditional economic indicators such as GDP and economic productivity to assess the contribution of economic sectors. The new index aims to take into account the broader social impacts of economic growth.
According to the SPI, a broader definition of economic success is needed, one that measures not only basic economic productivity but also the ability to share growth widely. The index highlights that fundamental sectors such as hospitality, retail, and logistics not only support growth-driving sectors but also generate productive growth from a broader social perspective.
These sectors play a particularly important role in employment: they are good employers for young people starting their careers, offer significant career opportunities even for those without a degree, and are uniquely widespread geographically across the country. While growth-promoting sectors often employ workers in a narrower circle and in limited geographical areas, basic sectors offer career opportunities almost everywhere.
In the first Social Productivity Index ranking, hospitality was the best-performing sector, achieving the highest average score across the areas examined. This puts it ahead of basic economic sectors such as administration, retail, and transportation, which also have outstanding social productivity. In contrast, sectors with the highest gross economic productivity, which are often the focus of government industrial policies, often perform less well in terms of social productivity indicators, and the benefits of growth are less accessible to many.
Hospitality has not only shown stable growth in recent years and is now larger than the automotive, pharmaceutical, and aerospace industries combined, but it is also geographically widespread, creating jobs in every corner of the country. Its social impact is particularly noteworthy: it plays a leading role in ensuring access to employment and management positions, employs people with disabilities, offers flexible working opportunities, and is key to the employment of young people who do not have a degree or whose parents did not work in management positions.