The 2022 SERF Index

The 2022 SERF Index Update is now an outdated version of the SERF Index.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 2022 SERF Index Update provides SERF Index scores for 14 separate years; 2007 through 2020 and can be downloaded below.  Beyond the changes included in the 2021 Update, the 2022 Update includes new sex disaggregated scores on adult food insecurity.

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. Sex disaggregated data are now available for both assessment standards for the right to food as well as the right to education and two components of the right to health. 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 2019 and covers 113 countries and up to 92 countries in any given year (the exact number depending on the year). The Component Right Indices cover 195 countries and up to 194 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 up to 28 countries for the years 2015 through 2019. The high-income right to food index can only be calculated for the years 2015 through 2019 while all the other high-income Component Right Indices can be calculated for the full period 2007 through 2019. At least one high-income Component Right Index is available for at least one year for 153 countries while for any given high-income Component Right Index data are available for between 35 and 120 countries (depending on the right) in any given year.

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, 2018, and 2019 series use data on the net primary school enrolment rate in 2017. 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 2022 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 both below and on the 2022 data tab.

Download the 2022 Update of the International SERF Index data

Download the International SERF Index Technical Note 2022 Update