The Use of RHDI and SHDI for Measuring Sustainability in EU Regions

This article builds on the previous contributions presented at the INPROFORUM conferences, which focused on the application of functional time series analysis to assess sustainability through selected indicators. The aim of the present study is to compare two human development indicators applicable to the assessment of sustainability at the regional level: the Regional Human Development Index (RHDI), developed for the European Commission, and the Subnational Human Development Index (SHDI), based on the UNDP methodology and compiled by the Global Data Lab. The analysis covers EU regions at the NUTS 0, NUTS 1, and NUTS 2 levels over the period 2000–2020, corresponding to three programming periods of EU cohesion policy. Descriptive statistics and functional time series analysis were used. Although the two indices differ in their construction, they exhibit similar trends. The RHDI provides a more detailed regional perspective, whereas the SHDI allows for broader international comparability. This study is among the first to systematically compare these indicators in the context of European regions and highlights their potential for evaluating the impacts of European policies, as well as their practical application within the framework of cohesion policy.