List of countries by Human Development Index
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) compiles the Human Development Index (HDI) of 191 nations in the annual Human Development Report. The index considers the health, education and income in a given country to provide a measure of human development which is comparable between countries and over time.[1][2]
- Very high
- High
- Medium
- Low
- No data
- ≥ 0.950
- 0.900–0.950
- 0.850–0.899
- 0.800–0.849
- 0.750–0.799
- 0.700–0.749
- 0.650–0.699
- 0.600–0.649
- 0.550–0.599
- 0.500–0.549
- 0.450–0.499
- 0.400–0.449
- ≤ 0.399
- Data unavailable
The HDI is the most widely used indicator of human development and has changed how people view the concept.[3][4] However, several aspects of the index have received criticism. Some scholars have criticized how the factors are weighed, in particular how an additional year of life expectancy is valued differently between countries;[4][5] and the limited factors it considers, noting the omission of factors such as the levels of distributional and gender inequality.[6] In response to the former, the UNDP introduced the inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) in its 2010 report, and in response to the latter the Gender Development Index (GDI) was introduced in the 1995 report.[7][8] Others have criticized the perceived oversimplification of using a single number per country.[9][10] To reflect developmental differences within countries, a subnational HDI (SHDI) featuring data for more than 1,600 regions was introduced in 2018 by the Global Data Lab at Radboud University in the Netherlands.[10] In 2020, the UNDP introduced another index, the planetary pressures–adjusted Human Development Index (PHDI), which decreases the scores of countries with a higher ecological footprint.[11]
Dimensions and indicators
The HDI was first published in 1990 with the goal of being a more comprehensive measure of human development than purely economic measures such as gross domestic product. The index incorporates three dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge, and decent living standards. Various indicators are used to quantify how countries perform on each dimension. The indicators used in the 2022 report were life expectancy at birth; expected years of schooling for children; mean years of schooling for adults; and gross national income per capita. The indicators are used to create a health index, an education index and an income index, each with a value between 0 and 1. The geometric mean of the three indices—that is, the cube root of the product of the indices—is the human development index. A value above 0.800 is classified as very high, between 0.700 and 0.799 as high, 0.550 to 0.699 as medium, and below 0.550 as low.[1][12][13]
The data used to calculate HDI comes mostly from United Nations agencies and international institutions, such as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Rarely, when one of the indicators is missing, cross-country regression models are used. Due to improved data and methodology updates, HDI values are not comparable across human development reports; instead, each report recalculates the HDI for some previous years.[13][14]
| Dimensions | Indicators | Dimension index | HDI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long and healthy life | Life expectancy at birth | Life expectancy index | Human Development Index |
| Knowledge | Expected years of schooling Mean years of schooling | Education index | |
| A decent standard of living | GNI per capita (PPP $) | GNI index |
Nations
- ≥ 1.4%
- 1.2%…1.4%
- 1%…1.2%
- 0.8%…1%
- 0.6%…0.8%
- 0.4%…0.6%
- 0.2%…0.4%
- 0%…0.2%
- −0.5%…0%
- −1%…−0.5%
- < −1%
- No data
The Human Development Report includes all 193 United Nations member states, as well as the State of Palestine and Hong Kong SAR. However, the Human Development Index is not calculated for four of the UN member states: DPR Korea (North Korea), Monaco, Nauru, and Somalia. Some components of the index may be calculated for these countries. The Cook Islands, the Holy See (Vatican City), and Niue are the only state parties within the United Nations System that are not included in the report.[16] In total, the HDI is available for 191 nations.[2]
Global Data Lab also provides data on the HDI of Somalia, putting it at 0.361 (2019), the lowest in the world, though data for Syria is unavailable.[17]
Countries ranked from 1 to 66 in 2021 are designated "very high" HDI; those ranked from 67 to 115 are designated "high" HDI; those ranked from 116 to 159 are denoted "medium" HDI; and those ranked from 160 to 191 are designated "low" HDI.[18][13]
| Rank | Nation | HDI | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 data (2022 report)[2] | Change since 2015[19] | 2021 data (2022 report)[2] | Average annual growth (2010–2021)[19] | |
| 1 | Switzerland | 0.962 | 0.19% | |
| 2 | Norway | 0.961 | 0.19% | |
| 3 | Iceland | 0.959 | 0.56% | |
| 4 | (3) | Hong Kong | 0.952 | 0.44% |
| 5 | (3) | Australia | 0.951 | 0.27% |
| 6 | Denmark | 0.948 | 0.34% | |
| 7 | (2) | Sweden | 0.947 | 0.36% |
| 8 | (6) | Ireland | 0.945 | 0.40% |
| 9 | (5) | Germany | 0.942 | 0.16% |
| 10 | (1) | Netherlands | 0.941 | 0.24% |
| 11 | Finland | 0.940 | 0.29% | |
| 12 | (1) | Singapore | 0.939 | 0.29% |
| 13 | (2) | Belgium | 0.937 | 0.25% |
| (3) | New Zealand | 0.15% | ||
| 15 | (2) | Canada | 0.936 | 0.25% |
| 16 | (1) | Liechtenstein | 0.935 | 0.22% |
| 17 | (3) | Luxembourg | 0.930 | 0.18% |
| 18 | (3) | United Kingdom | 0.929 | 0.17% |
| 19 | Japan | 0.925 | 0.27% | |
| (3) | South Korea | 0.35% | ||
| 21 | (3) | United States | 0.921 | 0.10% |
| 22 | Israel | 0.919 | 0.25% | |
| 23 | (4) | Malta | 0.918 | 0.58% |
| (1) | Slovenia | 0.28% | ||
| 25 | (4) | Austria | 0.916 | 0.14% |
| 26 | (9) | United Arab Emirates | 0.911 | 0.80% |
| 27 | Spain | 0.905 | 0.38% | |
| 28 | (3) | France | 0.903 | 0.27% |
| 29 | (3) | Cyprus | 0.896 | 0.41% |
| 30 | (1) | Italy | 0.895 | 0.13% |
| 31 | (2) | Estonia | 0.890 | 0.30% |
| 32 | (6) | Czech Republic | 0.889 | 0.20% |
| 33 | (2) | Greece | 0.887 | 0.19% |
| 34 | (1) | Poland | 0.876 | 0.37% |
| 35 | (3) | Bahrain | 0.875 | 0.73% |
| (1) | Lithuania | 0.35% | ||
| (2) | Saudi Arabia | 0.64% | ||
| 38 | (2) | Portugal | 0.866 | 0.40% |
| 39 | (1) | Latvia | 0.863 | 0.42% |
| 40 | (6) | Andorra | 0.858 | 0.11% |
| (5) | Croatia | 0.40% | ||
| 42 | (1) | Chile | 0.855 | 0.46% |
| (1) | Qatar | 0.23% | ||
| 44 | NA[a] | San Marino | 0.853 | NA[a] |
| 45 | (5) | Slovakia | 0.848 | 0.09% |
| 46 | (1) | Hungary | 0.846 | 0.20% |
| 47 | (4) | Argentina | 0.842 | 0.09% |
| 48 | (6) | Turkey | 0.838 | 1.03% |
| 49 | (3) | Montenegro | 0.832 | 0.27% |
| 50 | (1) | Kuwait | 0.831 | 0.20% |
| 51 | (3) | Brunei | 0.829 | 0.01% |
| 52 | (2) | Russia | 0.822 | 0.29% |
| 53 | (4) | Romania | 0.821 | 0.16% |
| 54 | (3) | Oman | 0.816 | 0.32% |
| 55 | (2) | Bahamas | 0.812 | 0.00% |
| 56 | (4) | Kazakhstan | 0.811 | 0.51% |
| 57 | (2) | Trinidad and Tobago | 0.810 | 0.23% |
| 58 | (4) | Costa Rica | 0.809 | 0.43% |
| Uruguay | 0.25% | |||
| 60 | (3) | Belarus | 0.808 | 0.21% |
| 61 | Panama | 0.805 | 0.37% | |
| 62 | (1) | Malaysia | 0.803 | 0.39% |
| 63 | (7) | Georgia | 0.802 | 0.50% |
| (2) | Mauritius | 0.55% | ||
| (4) | Serbia | 0.41% | ||
| 66 | (6) | Thailand | 0.800 | 0.75% |
| 67 | (2) | Albania | 0.796 | 0.49% |
| 68 | (9) | Bulgaria | 0.795 | 0.06% |
| (2) | Grenada | 0.15% | ||
| 70 | (2) | Barbados | 0.790 | 0.02% |
| 71 | (3) | Antigua and Barbuda | 0.788 | 0.02% |
| 72 | (8) | Seychelles | 0.785 | 0.10% |
| 73 | (9) | Sri Lanka | 0.782 | 0.54% |
| 74 | (10) | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0.780 | 0.67% |
| 75 | (2) | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 0.777 | 0.21% |
| 76 | (2) | Iran | 0.774 | 0.35% |
| 77 | (2) | Ukraine | 0.773 | 0.11% |
| 78 | (5) | North Macedonia | 0.770 | 0.39% |
| 79 | (19) | China | 0.768 | 0.97% |
| 80 | (16) | Dominican Republic | 0.767 | 0.73% |
| (9) | Moldova | 0.45% | ||
| (7) | Palau | 0.07% | ||
| 83 | (7) | Cuba | 0.764 | 0.19% |
| 84 | (1) | Peru | 0.762 | 0.45% |
| 85 | (5) | Armenia | 0.759 | 0.16% |
| 86 | (8) | Mexico | 0.758 | 0.15% |
| 87 | (1) | Brazil | 0.754 | 0.38% |
| 88 | (1) | Colombia | 0.752 | 0.32% |
| 89 | (4) | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 0.751 | 0.21% |
| 90 | (6) | Maldives | 0.747 | 0.75% |
| 91 | (2) | Algeria | 0.745 | 0.30% |
| (1) | Azerbaijan | 0.22% | ||
| (10) | Tonga | 0.40% | ||
| (2) | Turkmenistan | 0.43% | ||
| 95 | (14) | Ecuador | 0.740 | 0.05% |
| 96 | (4) | Mongolia | 0.739 | 0.48% |
| 97 | (13) | Egypt | 0.731 | 0.73% |
| (1) | Tunisia | 0.14% | ||
| 99 | (3) | Fiji | 0.730 | 0.20% |
| (7) | Suriname | 0.09% | ||
| 101 | (11) | Uzbekistan | 0.727 | 0.70% |
| 102 | (11) | Dominica | 0.720 | 0.11% |
| (2) | Jordan | 0.06% | ||
| 104 | (10) | Libya | 0.718 | 0.26% |
| 105 | (2) | Paraguay | 0.717 | 0.42% |
| 106 | (2) | Palestine | 0.715 | 0.36% |
| (11) | Saint Lucia | 0.16% | ||
| 108 | (12) | Guyana | 0.714 | 0.77% |
| 109 | (4) | South Africa | 0.713 | 0.50% |
| 110 | (3) | Jamaica | 0.709 | 0.06% |
| 111 | (6) | Samoa | 0.707 | 0.08% |
| 112 | (2) | Gabon | 0.706 | 0.56% |
| (21) | Lebanon | 0.79% | ||
| 114 | (3) | Indonesia | 0.705 | 0.55% |
| 115 | (5) | Vietnam | 0.703 | 0.53% |
| 116 | Philippines | 0.699 | 0.33% | |
| 117 | (6) | Botswana | 0.693 | 0.44% |
| 118 | Bolivia | 0.692 | 0.40% | |
| Kyrgyzstan | 0.38% | |||
| 120 | (41) | Venezuela | 0.691 | 0.80% |
| 121 | (1) | Iraq | 0.686 | 0.63% |
| 122 | (3) | Tajikistan | 0.685 | 0.68% |
| 123 | (14) | Belize | 0.683 | 0.31% |
| (3) | Morocco | 1.14% | ||
| 125 | (2) | El Salvador | 0.675 | 0.22% |
| 126 | (1) | Nicaragua | 0.667 | 0.76% |
| 127 | (6) | Bhutan | 0.666 | 1.25% |
| 128 | (4) | Cape Verde | 0.662 | 0.25% |
| 129 | (11) | Bangladesh | 0.661 | 1.64% |
| 130 | (2) | Tuvalu | 0.641 | 0.36% |
| 131 | (1) | Marshall Islands | 0.639 | NA[a] |
| 132 | (1) | India | 0.633 | 0.88% |
| 133 | (5) | Ghana | 0.632 | 0.88% |
| 134 | Micronesia | 0.628 | 0.04% | |
| 135 | (6) | Guatemala | 0.627 | 0.33% |
| 136 | (1) | Kiribati | 0.624 | 0.53% |
| 137 | Honduras | 0.621 | 0.36% | |
| 138 | (4) | Sao Tome and Principe | 0.618 | 1.00% |
| 139 | (7) | Namibia | 0.615 | 0.46% |
| 140 | (1) | Laos | 0.607 | 0.88% |
| (4) | East Timor | 0.18% | ||
| (3) | Vanuatu | 0.24% | ||
| 143 | (4) | Nepal | 0.602 | 0.94% |
| 144 | (4) | Eswatini | 0.597 | 1.57% |
| 145 | (6) | Equatorial Guinea | 0.596 | 0.26% |
| 146 | (3) | Cambodia | 0.593 | 0.85% |
| (1) | Zimbabwe | 1.34% | ||
| 148 | (3) | Angola | 0.586 | 1.27% |
| 149 | (1) | Myanmar | 0.585 | 1.26% |
| 150 | (5) | Syria | 0.577 | 1.21% |
| 151 | (2) | Cameroon | 0.576 | 1.06% |
| 152 | Kenya | 0.575 | 0.49% | |
| 153 | (9) | Republic of the Congo | 0.571 | 0.16% |
| 154 | (4) | Zambia | 0.565 | 0.60% |
| 155 | (1) | Solomon Islands | 0.564 | 0.23% |
| 156 | Comoros | 0.558 | 0.64% | |
| (2) | Papua New Guinea | 1.02% | ||
| 158 | (2) | Mauritania | 0.556 | 0.79% |
| 159 | (8) | Ivory Coast | 0.550 | 1.38% |
| 160 | (2) | Tanzania | 0.549 | 0.98% |
| 161 | (2) | Pakistan | 0.544 | 0.68% |
| 162 | (4) | Togo | 0.539 | 1.12% |
| 163 | (3) | Haiti | 0.535 | 1.94% |
| (1) | Nigeria | 0.95% | ||
| 165 | Rwanda | 0.534 | 0.80% | |
| 166 | (6) | Benin | 0.525 | 0.59% |
| (3) | Uganda | 0.41% | ||
| 168 | (3) | Lesotho | 0.514 | 0.88% |
| 169 | (4) | Malawi | 0.512 | 1.06% |
| 170 | (1) | Senegal | 0.511 | 0.80% |
| 171 | (1) | Djibouti | 0.509 | 0.96% |
| 172 | (4) | Sudan | 0.508 | 0.40% |
| 173 | (3) | Madagascar | 0.501 | 0.16% |
| 174 | (1) | Gambia | 0.500 | 0.76% |
| 175 | (6) | Ethiopia | 0.498 | 1.74% |
| 176 | (2) | Eritrea | 0.492 | 0.55% |
| 177 | (2) | Guinea-Bissau | 0.483 | 0.79% |
| 178 | Liberia | 0.481 | 0.41% | |
| 179 | (1) | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 0.479 | 1.01% |
| 180 | (5) | Afghanistan | 0.478 | 0.59% |
| 181 | (1) | Sierra Leone | 0.477 | 1.01% |
| 182 | (1) | Guinea | 0.465 | 1.04% |
| 183 | (6) | Yemen | 0.455 | 1.03% |
| 184 | (2) | Burkina Faso | 0.449 | 1.72% |
| 185 | (2) | Mozambique | 0.446 | 0.95% |
| 186 | (1) | Mali | 0.428 | 0.53% |
| 187 | (2) | Burundi | 0.426 | 0.46% |
| 188 | (2) | Central African Republic | 0.404 | 0.75% |
| 189 | (2) | Niger | 0.400 | 1.54% |
| 190 | (1) | Chad | 0.394 | 0.77% |
| 191 | (3) | South Sudan | 0.385 | 1.00% |
Regions and groups
The Human Development Report also reports the HDI for various groups of countries. These include regional groupings based on the UNDP regional classifications,[20] HDI groups including the countries currently falling into a given HDI bracket, OECD members and various other UN groupings.[21] The aggregate HDI values are calculated in the same way as for individual countries with the input data being the weighted average for all countries with available data in the group.[22]
| Region or group | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2015 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OECD | 0.795 | 0.840 | 0.875 | 0.893 | 0.901 | 0.905 | 0.897 | 0.899 |
| Very high human development | 0.784 | 0.826 | 0.868 | 0.889 | 0.898 | 0.902 | 0.895 | 0.896 |
| Europe and Central Asia | 0.664 | 0.681 | 0.746 | 0.783 | 0.798 | 0.802 | 0.793 | 0.796 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 0.633 | 0.689 | 0.733 | 0.758 | 0.766 | 0.768 | 0.755 | 0.754 |
| High human development | 0.557 | 0.625 | 0.700 | 0.734 | 0.751 | 0.756 | 0.753 | 0.754 |
| East Asia and the Pacific | 0.507 | 0.592 | 0.684 | 0.722 | 0.741 | 0.748 | 0.748 | 0.749 |
| World | 0.601 | 0.645 | 0.697 | 0.724 | 0.736 | 0.739 | 0.735 | 0.732 |
| Small Island Developing States | 0.601 | 0.649 | 0.693 | 0.723 | 0.734 | 0.738 | 0.732 | 0.730 |
| Arab states | 0.555 | 0.618 | 0.676 | 0.697 | 0.711 | 0.715 | 0.708 | 0.708 |
| Developing countries | 0.513 | 0.569 | 0.638 | 0.673 | 0.687 | 0.691 | 0.687 | 0.685 |
| Medium human development | 0.453 | 0.506 | 0.582 | 0.627 | 0.643 | 0.645 | 0.642 | 0.636 |
| South Asia | 0.442 | 0.500 | 0.576 | 0.623 | 0.640 | 0.641 | 0.638 | 0.632 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 0.407 | 0.430 | 0.503 | 0.534 | 0.547 | 0.552 | 0.549 | 0.547 |
| Least developed countries | 0.357 | 0.408 | 0.487 | 0.520 | 0.537 | 0.542 | 0.542 | 0.540 |
| Low human development | 0.356 | 0.399 | 0.477 | 0.506 | 0.518 | 0.522 | 0.519 | 0.518 |
See also
Notes
References
- ^ a b "Human Development Index (HDI) | Human Development Reports". hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. from the original on 28 January 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ a b c d Human Development Report 2021-22: Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World (PDF). hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. 8 September 2022. pp. 272–276. ISBN 978-9-211-26451-7. (PDF) from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ Ivanova, I.; Arcelus, F. J.; Srinivasan, G. (February 1999). "An Assessment of the Measurement Properties of the Human Development Index". Social Indicators Research. 46 (2): 157–179. doi:10.1023/A:1006839208067. ISSN 0303-8300. JSTOR 27522364. S2CID 142628010. from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ a b Sanderson, Warren; Scherbov, Sergei; Simone, Ghislandi (8 November 2018). "The best country to live in might not be Norway after all". Quartz. from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ Ravallion, Martin (1 November 2012). "Troubling tradeoffs in the Human Development Index". Journal of Development Economics. 99 (2): 201–209. doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.01.003. ISSN 0304-3878. from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ Sharma, Shalendra D. (1 February 1997). "Making the Human Development Index (HDI) gender-sensitive". Gender & Development. 5 (1): 60–61. doi:10.1080/741922304. ISSN 1355-2074. PMID 12320744. from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ Human Development Report 2010 (PDF). hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. 2010. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-230-28445-6. (PDF) from the original on 22 July 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
- ^ Human development report 1995 (PDF). Oxford University Press for the United Nations Development Programme. 1995. pp. 72–74. ISBN 0-19-510023-9. (PDF) from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ Castles, Ian (1998). "The Mismeasure of Nations: A Review Essay". Population and Development Review. 24 (4): 834–836. doi:10.2307/2808029. ISSN 0098-7921. JSTOR 2808029. from the original on 14 March 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ a b Iñaki, Permanyer; Jeroen, Smits (31 May 2018). "The Subnational Human Development Index: Moving beyond country-level averages". United Nations Development Programme. from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene (PDF). hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. 15 December 2020. pp. 291–231. ISBN 978-9-211-26442-5. (PDF) from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ Human Development Report 1990 (PDF). hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. 1 May 1990. pp. iii, iv, 5, 9, 12. ISBN 0-1950-6481-X. (PDF) from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ a b c "Human Development Report 2019 – Technical notes" (PDF). hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. pp. 2–4. (PDF) from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2020: Reader's Guide". hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ "Human Development Index (HDI)". UNDP.
- ^ A World Tour of the States not recognized by the UN
- ^ "Subnational Human Development Index (SHDI) Area Database - Somalia". Global Data Lab. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2020: The next frontier, Human development and the Anthropocene" (PDF). hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. 2020. ISBN 978-92-1-126442-5. ISSN 0969-4501. (PDF) from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ a b Human Development Report 2021-22: Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World (PDF). hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. 8 September 2022. pp. 277–280. ISBN 978-9-211-26451-7. (PDF) from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ "Developing regions | Human Development Reports". hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2020: Reader's Guide | Human Development Reports". hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2020 – Technical notes" (PDF). hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. p. 4. (PDF) from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ Human Development Report 2021-22: Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World (PDF). hdr.undp.org. United Nations Development Programme. 8 September 2022. p. 280. ISBN 978-9-211-26451-7. (PDF) from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
External links
- UN Development Programme Human Development Reports