This paper is an attempt to relate social development and economic growth in order to assess the success of various policy regimes. The paper also tests for a statistical relationship between the two so as to answer the question whether improvements in the social indicators can be explained by the level and changes in per capita income. The choice of component variables for forming the composite Social Development Index (SDI) is primarily governed by the availability of consistent time series data. Therefore, the results are indicative and should be interpreted accordingly.