Physical quality-of-life index

The physical quality-of-life index (PQLI) is an attempt to measure the quality of life or well-being of a country. The value is a single number derived from basic literacy rate, infant mortality, and life expectancy at age one, all equally weighted on a 0 to 100 scale.

It was developed for the Overseas Development Council in 1979 by Morris Davis Morris, as one of a number of measures created due to dissatisfaction with the use of GNP as a indicator of development. PQLI might be regarded as an improvement but shares the general problems of measuring quality of life in a quantitative way. It has also been criticized because there is considerable overlap between infant mortality and life expectancy.

The UN Human Development Index is a more widely used means of measuring well-being.

See also

• basic well-being index (BWI)
• world quality-of-life index (WPQLI), NSPQLI, WLIT