Economic Security and Human Development of Ukraine: A Two-Stage Matrix Approach in the Context of the Society 5.0 Conception

Abstract

The article attempts to explore the relationship between economic security and human development in Ukraine within the framework of the Society 5.0 conception. The relevance of the study comes from the contradiction between the need to maintain the country’s economic stability and preserving human potential during the ongoing full-scale war. Despite a significant number of scientific works in these areas, these categories are mostly analyzed separately, which limits the ability to comprehensively assess socioeconomic transformations and form balanced managerial decisions. The aim of the study is to build and test a two-stage matrix of «economic security – human development» and to create managerial implementations based on it in the context of the Society 5.0 conception. Methods of comparative, graphical, index, and matrix analysis were used based on data on the Human Development Index (HDI) and the integrated economic security indicator of Ukraine for 2012–2025. In the first stage, a normative matrix was built with threshold values of HDI = 0.700 and ESI = 50 points. In the second stage, an adapted matrix based on the average values of the indicators was created, which allows assessing the country’s position relative to its own development trajectory. The results showed that from 2012 to 2025, Ukraine consistently remained in the quadrant of relatively high human development but with an insufficient level of economic security. The adapted matrix revealed internal dynamics: a shift from a favorable combination of both indicators in 2012–2018 to a situation where both indicators were below their own averages in 2024–2025. The phenomenon of structural asymmetry was determined: in 2025, the HDI recovered to its pre-war level, while the economic security index continued to decline, which is interpreted as a structural imbalance, where social stability is maintained by the inertia of inherited systems and external support rather than by strengthening its own economic foundation. The scientific novelty lies in the development and testing of a two-stage matrix approach that combines normative assessment with the analysis of the system’s internal dynamics. The practical value of the results lies in the ability to use the tools for monitoring balanced development and creating management implementations focused on a human-centered model of postwar recovery in Ukraine, according to the principles of Society 5.0.