The Well-Being Index is a transformative new way to measure a country’s growth, to help inform government and company decisions, investments, and policies.

This idea has PR at its core. As the world’s largest financial newspaper and Japan’s most prominent media organization, Nikkei leveraged its influence, relationships and media platform to introduce The Well-being Index to government policy-makers and leaders of Japan’s biggest companies through lobbying techniques, a series of symposiums, meetings and workshops, effectively spreading the word of its need, value and potential to improve life for all of Japan’s employees and citizens.

The world’s focus on GDP (Gross Domestic Product) as the ultimate way to measure the growth of a country has created an alarming disconnect between a nation’s increasing economy and the decreased well-being of citizens. Japan, the third largest economy in the world by GDP, was no exception and the need for a complementary metric to the GDP was an urgent one.

While efforts to measure the well-being of a country have been made in the past, Nikkei had the platform, credibility, reach and influence to develop a real well-being index that could work for Japan first, and the world next.

As the largest financial newspaper in the planet and creator of Tokyo’s most important stock exchange index, Nikkei knew they could lobby government officials and the largest companies in Japan to launch an official metric that would help improve the quality of life for all employees and citizens.

Introduced to Japan’s government officials and leaders of the biggest traded companies, the Well-Being Index is a transformative new way to measure a country’s growth, focusing on the well-being of its citizens and not just its economy.

With thousands of people from all backgrounds surveyed across all regions in Japan, the model tracks and measures a range of well-being indicators and aggregates them into a single metric, called GDW (Gross Domestic Well-being).

Published regularly alongside the GDP on the largest financial newspaper in the world, the Nikkei, the GDW becomes an official reference point for governments and companies to truly know how well their country is doing and inform new decisions, investments, and policies.

The Well-Being Index is meant to redefine how the world measures the success of a country, in a way that's more in tune with today's society and the future of the planet.

To help solve the alarming disconnect between Japan’s growing economy and the decreasing well-being of its citizens, Nikkei would need to call the attention of policy-makers, politicians and corporate leaders, persuade them of GDP’s limitations and introduce a complementary metric.

Together with experts from Harvard, Oxford and Tokyo University, Nikkei developed a new metric that could reshape the way Japan, and the world, measures the success of a nation. That metric was The Well-Being Index.

As the largest financial newspaper in the world and creator of Japan’s most important stock exchange Index, Nikkei would have to leverage their communication platforms, relationships and influence, lobbying government officials and the largest companies in Japan to engage with, adopt, and rally behind the new index.

Because it can only create meaningful change if companies and the government pay as much attention to The Well-being Index as they do to GDP.

Gross Domestic Well-being is not a new concept. But it’s the first time it was put into real practice.

Nikkei, with experts in Economics, Social Progress, Human Development and Public Policy from Harvard, Oxford and Tokyo University, adapted the model to Japan’s culture and societal structure, constantly surveying thousands of citizens and aggregating results into a single metric, called GDW.

To introduce the new index to Japan’s policy-makers and leaders of the top companies, Nikkei organized 4 well-being symposiums, 7 corporate manager meetings, and 14 workshops on cutting edge theory.

Newspaper ads and articles supported the launch of The Well-Being Index, while a dedicated team lobbied Japan’s Parliament to establish the GDW as an official metric.

The GDW was then regularly published next to the GDP in the biggest financial newspaper on the planet. Together they give a more comprehensive picture of the success of a nation.

After introduction of The Well-being Index, Japan’s government created a special well-being committee. The new index was adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of the Environment and the Cabinet Office.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recognized the GDW as an official metric to inform new policies, followed by an ¥8 billion investment towards government-backed well-being initiatives.

To date, 23 companies, like Nestlé, Fujitsu, Kirin, and Deloitte, started making internal changes for employees and investors or launched public well-being initiatives, with more efforts to raise GDW following.

The Well-Being Index is the beginning of a long-term change in Japan that will take decades to play out.

It shows the world that a country’s economy and the well-being of its people can grow together, while positioning Nikkei as an economic pioneer, once again.

A concept like The Well-being Index can only have real impact when companies and the government pay as much attention to the GDW as they do to the GDP.

As the largest financial newspaper in the world and calculator of Japan’s most influential stock exchange Index, Nikkei possesses the legitimacy as the force behind this initiative. It also holds strong relationships with policy-makers and company leaders, and has mass reach (6.7 million weekly readers) through its media assets to familiarize the nation with this new indicator.

The Well-being Index was introduced to Japan’s policy-makers and top companies through a series of expert-led symposiums and management meetings. Newspaper ads and articles supported the launch, while a dedicated team met with government officials from several ministries to lobby the concept.

The index was then regularly published in the newspaper next to Japan’s GDP and other key economic data.

While the disconnect between the economic success of a country and the well-being of its citizens is a global issue, it’s particularly noticeable in Japan. While Japan is the third largest in the world by GDP, it also deals with one of the world’s highest suicide rates (17.5 suicides per 100,000 inhabitants).

There’s an imbalance between the social and working purpose of life in modern Japan. This dissatisfaction exposes the problems of overwork, wealth inequality and social fragmentation. Men are working too hard at the expense of family time. Birth rates are extremely low, and loneliness and social anxiety compound the problem for many.

While the Japanese government has launched initiatives to counter this, there’s clearly more effort needed, especially from the companies that make up the beating heart of Japan’s economy.