European System of Social Indicators

Please go to our  Social Indicators Monitor – SIMon to get access to the timeseries data form the European System of Social Indicators.

The European System of Social Indicators is an instrument to be used to continuously monitor and analyze the individual and societal well-being of European citizens in terms of quality of life, social cohesion and sustainability as well as changes in the social structure of European societies. The European System of Social Indicators covers the current EU-27 member states, Norway and Switzerland as well as Japan and the United States as two major reference societies. At present there are time series data available for roughly 650 indicators from 9 out of the projected 13 life-domains. Selected key indicators address dimensions of well-being and social change which are considered particularly important. Time series start at the beginning of the 1980s. Most of the indicators time series are broken down by various socio-demographic variables. Also regional disaggregations at the NUTS-1-level are available whenever possible and meaningful. The European System of Social Indicators is based on data sources ensuring the best possible level of comparability across countries and time. The data sources used include international aggregate official statistics as well as microdata from various official as well as science based cross-national surveys. The European System of Social Indicators may be used for all kinds of comparative research on quality of life, social cohesion, sustainability, social structures and value orientations within and across the countries covered. As a tool to monitor progress in terms of individual and societal well-being as well as general social change across European societies, it may also be used for policy making purposes.