Abstract

The reliance on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of economic success has been criticized for neglecting environmental and social dimensions of well-being. To address this limitation, this paper develops an adapted version of the Sustainable Prosperity Index (SPI), inspired by Jackson and Victor (2020) and applied to the European Union (EU). The study is motivated by the need for a holistic sustainability metric that explicitly incorporates energy sufficiency—an aspect often overlooked in beyond-GDP indices. Using a composite indicator approach, we construct the SPI by integrating economic, environmental, and social indicators, with a specific focus on energy sufficiency within four key high-energy consumption domains: food, transport, housing, and consumer goods. The SPI is computed for all EU countries under a Reference Scenario and multiple Sufficiency Scenarios to assess the potential impact of upscaled sufficiency measures on sustainability performance. Our results show that energy sufficiency measures can enhance EU countries' sustainability performance, with SPI improvements for the 5 analysed countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, and Latvia) ranging between 1.2% and 2.3%. Countries with higher baseline resource consumption tend to experience the most pronounced gains. The findings highlight the potential of sufficiency-driven policies to complement decarbonization strategies by reducing overall energy demand.