This study was a preliminary evaluation of sustainable social progress in the Kingdom of Tonga. It has been conducted by following the recommendations of the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (CMEPSP).

Tonga appears to be making reasonable social progress according to the Human Development Index and Millennium Development Goals metrics. Closer examination shows that hardship, inequality and other social problems are actually increasing in Tonga.

It is then shown that Tonga’s progress to date has been ecologically unsustainable. Future social progress will require social and cultural change to address a number of social, ecological and economic sustainability challenges.

A preliminary identification of a plausible ‘shared view’ of Tongan wellbeing and priorities for social progress supports the finding that Tonga’s social progress has been uneven across different dimensions of wellbeing.

This study indicates that sustainable social progress needs to be far more comprehensively integrated into Tongan national development priorities and initiatives. This preliminary study would need to be repeated on a much larger scale to produce sufficiently robust findings to guide policy making.

The implications of this study support the findings and recommendations of Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress. The approach taken in this study is replicable to other social contexts to build a wider understanding of how sustainable social progress can be approached and ideally achieved around the world.

Conference paper describing this research.