The 2021 SERF Index
The 2021 SERF Index Update is now an outdated version of the SERF Index. The data files are provided here for the convenience of researchers who may be currently using these older versions of the data. The 2021 SERF Index Update provides SERF Index scores for 12 separate years; 2007 through 2018 and can be downloaded below. The 2021 Update incorporates several changes beyond those in the 2020 Update. First, given the availability of new International Comparison Project data ensuring comparability of income per capita data across countries, all achievement possibility frontiers (APF) used to benchmark country obligations have been re-estimated using Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita data measured in 2017 PPP$. Second, for the high-income assessment standard we have switched to a new data source for housing affordability that better captures the full cost of housing. Specifically, the indicator is the percentage of the poorest quintile of the population living in households where the total housing cost (‘net’ of housing allowances) represents less than 40% of disposable income (‘net’ of housing allowances). Third, for low- and middle- income assessment standard the 2021 Update measures contraceptive prevalence using “modern methods” rather than “any methods” to better capture access to reproductive health care.
Both the low- and middle-income and the high-income variants of the International SERF Index are calculated for all countries with the requisite data and the series are comparable across countries and years but are not comparable across variants. Researchers can evaluate countries with the available data on either assessment standard.
- The low-and middle-income international SERF Index covering all five component rights is available for all years 2007 through 2018 and covers 105 countries and up to 90 countries in any given year (the exact number depending on the year). The Component Right Indices cover 196 countries and up to 192 countries for any given year and right (the exact number depending on the right and the year).
- The high-income International SERF Index covering all five rights can be calculated for 28 countries for the years 2015 through 2018. The high-income right to food index can only be calculated for the years 2015 through 2018 while all the other high-income Component Right Indices can be calculated for the full period 2007 through 2018. At least one high-income Component Right Index is available for at least one year for 144 countries while for any given high-income Component Right Index data are available for between 34 and 108 countries (depending on the right).
When computing a country’s score on a right or right aspect, the most recently available data on a given right enjoyment indicator (and the per capita income data for the corresponding year) is used. However, because the surveys providing many of the indicators on rights enjoyment are not conducted annually, the data used for each year are not always unique. For example, in the case of the Right to Education Index score for Cameroon, the 2017 and 2018 series use data on the net primary school enrolment rate in 2017. If the most recently available data on an indicator is more than 10 years prior, the score for that right aspect is recorded as “missing”, and so too is the score for the corresponding Component Right Index and variant of the International SERF Index. The 2021 Update data sets including the individual indicator performance scores as well as the Component Right Indices are incorporated into the downloadable excel files and can be accessed below as can the Technical Note for the 2021 Update
Download the 2021 Update of the International SERF Index data
Download the International SERF Index Technical Note 2021 Update