What is it?
Imagine a doughnut. The hole in the middle represents the people who are falling below the basics of a good life — those without enough food, water, healthcare, or education. The outer edge of the doughnut represents the ecological ceiling — the planetary boundaries we must not breach if we want a stable planet. The goal of any economy, Kate Raworth argues, should be to get everyone into the doughnut: above the social foundation, below the ecological ceiling.
Why was it developed?
Kate Raworth, an Oxford economist, developed the framework in a 2012 Oxfam paper and expanded it in her 2017 book "Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist." She argued that mainstream economics is addicted to growth as an end in itself, and has no built-in concept of "enough." The Doughnut provides a visual compass that replaces the goal of endless growth with the goal of thriving within limits.
How does it work?
The Doughnut has two boundaries:
- The inner ring (Social Foundation): 12 dimensions of human wellbeing that everyone deserves — food, water, health, energy, education, housing, gender equality, income and work, peace and justice, political voice, social equity, and network connectivity.
- The outer ring (Ecological Ceiling): 9 planetary boundaries identified by Earth-system scientists — climate change, ocean acidification, chemical pollution, nitrogen and phosphorus loading, freshwater withdrawals, land conversion, biodiversity loss, air pollution, and ozone layer depletion.
- The "doughnut" is the space between these two rings — the safe and just space for humanity.
- If people fall below the inner ring, that's a social shortfall. If we push beyond the outer ring, that's an ecological overshoot.
- The goal is for all people to thrive within this space — not to grow indefinitely beyond it.
What does GDP miss that this captures?
GDP has no concept of a ceiling. It treats infinite growth as the goal, with no built-in awareness of planetary limits or human needs floors. The Doughnut makes both explicit.
- GDP cannot tell you whether growth is happening within or beyond planetary boundaries.
- GDP has no floor — it doesn't know or care if people are living below minimum standards.
- The Doughnut reframes the question from "how much growth?" to "are we in the safe and just space?"
Real-world use
The Doughnut framework has moved from academic concept to city policy:
- Amsterdam became the first city to officially adopt the Doughnut as a guiding framework in 2020, commissioning a city portrait showing where Amsterdam sits relative to both boundaries.
- Copenhagen, Brussels, Nanaimo (Canada), and Dunedin (New Zealand) have also begun applying the framework.
- The Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL) supports communities and cities worldwide in applying the framework.
- Kate Raworth's book has sold over 1 million copies and been translated into 20+ languages.
Limitations
The Doughnut is a framework, not a precise measurement tool:
- It doesn't produce a single number — it's a visual map, not a ranking.
- Defining the exact position of the social foundation and ecological ceiling involves value judgments.
- Critics argue it doesn't provide specific enough policy prescriptions.
- The framework is better at diagnosing problems than prescribing solutions.
The Doughnut is the most visually powerful and conceptually clear alternative to GDP growth as a goal. Its core insight — that there is both a floor below which no one should fall and a ceiling above which no economy should push — is simple, profound, and increasingly urgent.
Related GDP alternatives
What if we started with GDP, added the good things it ignores, and subtracted the bad things it counts as positive?
Standard GDP with one crucial adjustment: subtract the cost of environmental destruction.
A growing alliance of governments that have decided to measure success by human and ecological wellbeing — not GDP growth.