The SPI database was developed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as a repository of country-level data on social protection programs e.g., social insurance, social assistance and labor market programs in Asia and the Pacific. The main objective is to have an internationally comparable database of government-financed social protection programs including expenditure, coverage, size of benefits and distributional impact on poverty and gender. 

It enables in-depth analysis of social protection at the country and regional levels while capturing the adequacy of social protection in a country by looking at program expenditures, coverage, distribution, and impact. With uniformity in metrics and methods, the SPI can be used as a benchmark to improve social protection through better design, coverage, gender equity, and poverty targeting.