  This paper proposes the development of an index to assess rural development
based on a set of 25 demographic, economic, environmental, and social welfare
indicators previously selected through a Delphi approach. Three widely accepted
aggregation methods were then tested: a mixed arithmetic/geometric mean without
weightings for each indicator; a weighted arithmetic mean using the weights
previously generated by the Delphi panel and an aggregation through Principal
Component Analysis. These three methodologies were later applied to 9
Portuguese NUTS III regions, and the results were presented to a group of
experts in rural development who indicated which of the three forms of
aggregation best measured the levels of rural development of the different
territories. Finally, it was concluded that the unweighted arithmetic/geometric
mean was the most accurate methodology for aggregating indicators to create a
Rural Development Index.
