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Doughnut Economics is an economic framework created by Kate Raworth that proposes a new goal for 21st-century prosperity: meeting the needs of all people within the means of the living planet.
It is visualized as a doughnut-shaped diagram and serves as both a diagnostic tool (showing where humanity currently stands) and a compass for redesigning economies. It challenges traditional GDP-focused economics and integrates insights from Planetary Boundaries (the outer ring) with social foundations (the inner ring).
The Doughnut Visual Model
• Inner ring (Social Foundation): Minimum standards for human well-being and dignity. Below this lies critical human deprivation (the “hole” in the doughnut).
• Outer ring (Ecological Ceiling): The nine Planetary Boundaries that define Earth’s safe limits. Beyond this lies critical planetary degradation and risk of tipping points.
• The safe and just space: The area between the rings — where humanity can thrive sustainably. The goal of Doughnut Economics is to get everyone into this space.
The framework draws the social dimensions from internationally agreed priorities (especially the UN Sustainable Development Goals) and the ecological dimensions directly from the Planetary Boundaries science.
The 12 Dimensions of the Social Foundation
These represent essential human needs (with shortfalls tracked globally):
• Food
• Health
• Education
• Income & work
• Peace & justice
• Political voice
• Social equity
• Gender equality
• Housing
• Networks (social support)
• Energy
• Water
The 9 Dimensions of the Ecological Ceiling
These align with the Planetary Boundaries (with current status as of the latest 2025 assessments):
• Climate change (transgressed)
• Biosphere integrity (transgressed)
• Land-system change (transgressed)
• Freshwater change (transgressed)
• Biogeochemical flows (nitrogen & phosphorus) (transgressed)
• Ocean acidification (transgressed — newly assessed as breached in 2025)
• Novel entities (chemical pollution, plastics, etc.) (transgressed)
• Atmospheric aerosol loading (within safe zone, but pressure rising)
• Stratospheric ozone depletion (within safe zone — a policy success)
Current global picture (per the 2025 quantitative update by Fanning & Raworth in Nature): Humanity is “out of balance.” Millions fall short on social foundations while overshooting multiple ecological boundaries. The doughnut’s “hole” (deprivation) and outer overshoot are both significant.
Core Principles of Doughnut Economics
Raworth outlines seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist, moving beyond outdated assumptions:
1. Change the goal — From endless GDP growth to thriving in the doughnut.
2. See the big picture — Embed the economy within society and the living planet (not the other way around).
3. Nurture human nature — Move beyond “rational economic man” to more realistic, socially embedded humans.
4. Get savvy with systems — Understand feedback loops, tipping points, and complexity.
5. Design to distribute — Create economies that share value and power fairly by design.
6. Create to regenerate — Shift from degenerative (extractive, linear) to regenerative (circular, life-affirming) design.
7. Be agnostic about growth — Focus on what matters (well-being within planetary limits) rather than assuming growth is always good or always bad.
Applications and Real-World Use
The framework is being put into practice worldwide through the Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL):
• Cities and regions: Amsterdam (pioneering circular economy strategies), Barcelona, Glasgow, Mexico City, and smaller places like Tomelilla (Sweden). Used in policy, budgeting, urban planning, and public engagement.
• Business and enterprise: Companies redesigning for regenerative and distributive outcomes (e.g., circular models, fair supply chains, stakeholder ownership).
• Education and communities: Taught in schools/universities and used in local initiatives.
• Policy influence: Informs national and international discussions on sustainable development.
A 2025 Nature paper provides an updated quantitative global assessment (2000–2022 data with 35 indicators), showing persistent shortfalls and overshoots while highlighting where progress has occurred.
Connection to Broader Human History Trends
In the context of humanity’s long-term trajectory:
• It builds directly on the Planetary Boundaries framework (outer ring) and quantifies the risks highlighted by the Great Acceleration (post-1950 surge in human activity and environmental pressure).
• It balances the “progress” side of history (gains in health, education, poverty reduction, etc.) with the ecological costs.
• It offers a positive, actionable vision for the future: economies designed to be regenerative (working with nature) and distributive (sharing prosperity), enabling continued human flourishing without destroying the planetary systems that support it.
Strengths, Criticisms, and Evolution
Strengths: Visually powerful and intuitive; holistic (integrates social and ecological); practical for policymakers and practitioners; challenges GDP obsession while being solution-oriented.
Criticisms and debates: Measurement challenges (especially for some social and novel entities boundaries); varying interpretations (some see it as compatible with green growth, others as implying degrowth in wealthy nations); implementation at scale remains complex.
The framework continues to evolve (e.g., the 2025 updated global doughnut with refined indicators).
Doughnut Economics provides a compelling compass for navigating humanity’s next phase — one where progress means thriving together within planetary limits rather than endless expansion at any cost.