List of sovereign states in Europe by Human Development Index

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living. It is a standard means of measuring well-being. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, developing, or underdeveloped country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life. Countries fall into four broad categories based on their HDI: very high, high, medium, and low human development. Currently, all European countries fall into the very high or high human development category.

Map of the European countries by HDI value in 2022 (includes transcontinental countries).
Very high HDI

  ≥ 0.920

  0.890–0.919

  0.850–0.889

  0.800–0.849

High HDI

  < 0.800

List

The table below presents the latest Human Development Index (HDI)^[1] for countries in Europe as included in a United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report (released in 2020).^[2][3] Previous HDI values and rankings are retroactively recalculated using the same updated data sets and current methodologies, as presented in Table 2 of the Statistical Annex of the Human Development Report.^[4]

Countries that are not entirely located in Europe are shown here in italics, but HDI figures are given for the whole country. Monaco and Vatican City are not ranked as they are not included in the latest report by the United Nations Development Programme. Kosovo is also not included.

List of European countries by Human Development Index
Rank		Country	Human Development Index (HDI)
Region	World		HDI 2022^[5]	HDI 2021(revalued)^[6]	HDI 2021^[2]	Change in HDI value 2021–22
Very High Human Development
1	1	Switzerland	0.967	0.964	0.962	0.002
2	2	Norway	0.966	0.964	0.961	0.002
3	3	Iceland	0.959	0.957	0.959	0.002
4	5	Denmark	0.952	0.947	0.948	0.005
		Sweden	0.952	0.949	0.947	0.003
5	7	Ireland	0.950	0.946	0.945	0.004
		Germany		0.948	0.942	0.002
6	10	Netherlands	0.946	0.941	0.941	0.005
7	12	Belgium	0.942	0.938	0.937	0.004
		Finland	0.942	0.941	0.940	0.001
		Liechtenstein	0.942	0.936	0.935	0.006
8	15	United Kingdom	0.940	0.931	0.929	0.009
9	20	Luxembourg	0.927	0.927	0.930
10	22	Slovenia	0.926	0.916	0.918	0.010
		Austria	0.926	0.920	0.916	0.006
11	25	Malta	0.915	0.912	0.918	0.003
12	27	Spain	0.911	0.904	0.905	0.007
13	28	France	0.910	0.906	0.903	0.004
14	29	Cyprus^[N 1]	0.907	0.901	0.896	0.006
15	30	Italy	0.906	0.899	0.895	0.007
16	31	Estonia	0.899	0.890	0.890	0.009
17	32	Czech Republic	0.895	0.891	0.889	0.004
18	33	Greece	0.893	0.887	0.887	0.006
19	35	Andorra	0.884	0.855	0.858	0.029
20	36	Poland	0.881	0.876	0.876	0.005
21	37	Latvia	0.879	0.865	0.863	0.014
		Lithuania	0.879	0.875	0.875	0.004
22	39	Croatia	0.878	0.867	0.858	0.011
23	42	Portugal	0.874	0.865	0.866	0.009
24	43	San Marino	0.867	0.853	0.853	0.014
25	45	Slovakia	0.855	0.852	0.848	0.003
		Turkey^[N 2]	0.855	0.841	0.838	0.014
26	47	Hungary	0.851	0.846	0.846	0.005
27	50	Montenegro	0.844	0.840	0.832	0.004
28	53	Romania	0.827	0.825	0.821	0.002
29	52	Russia^[N 3]	0.821	0.818	0.822	0.003
30	60	Georgia	0.814	0.809	0.802	0.005
31	65	Serbia	0.805	0.804	0.802	0.001
32	67	Kazakhstan^[N 4]	0.802	0.801	0.811	0.001
32	69	Belarus	0.801	0.801	0.808
High Human Development
34	70	Bulgaria	0.799	0.796	0.795	0.003
45	74	Albania	0.789	0.785	0.796	0.004
36	76	Armenia^[N 5]	0.786	0.774	0.759	0.012
37	80	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.779	0.776	0.780	0.003
38	83	North Macedonia	0.765	0.764	0.770	0.001
39	86	Moldova	0.763	0.767	0.767	0.004
40	89	Azerbaijan^[N 6]	0.760	0.738	0.745	0.022
41	100	Ukraine	0.734	0.755	0.773	0.021

Map

This is the map of the list of European countries by the Human Development Index for the year 2022.^[2] The colour indicators are as follows:   High Human Development and   Very High Human Development.

 

0.789

0.786

0.926

0.760

0.801

0.942

0.779

0.799

0.878

0.907

0.895

0.952

0.899

0.942

0.910

0.814

0.950

0.893

0.851

0.959

0.950

0.906

0.802

0.879

0.942

0.879

0.927

0.765

0.915

0.763

0.844

0.946

0.966

0.881

0.874

0.827

0.821

0.805

0.855

0.926

0.911

0.952

0.967

0.855

0.734

0.940

Adriatic
Sea

Arctic Ocean

Barents Sea

Bay of
Biscay

Black
Sea

Azov
Sea

Caspian
Sea

Celtic
Sea

Greenland Sea

Baffin Bay

Gulf of
Cadiz

Ligurian
Sea

Mediterranean Sea

North
Atlantic
Ocean

North
Sea

Norwegian
Sea

Strait of Gibraltar

See also

• International organisations in Europe
• List of countries by GDP (nominal)
• List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita
• List of countries by GDP (PPP)
• List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita
• List of countries by Human Development Index
• List of countries by Human Development Index by region
• List of countries by percentage of population living in poverty
• List of European countries by budget revenues
• List of European countries by budget revenues per capita
• List of European countries by GDP (nominal) per capita
• List of European countries by GNI (nominal) per capita
• List of European countries by GNI (PPP) per capita

Notes

1. Geographically, Cyprus is generally included in Western Asia or the Middle East, but it has been historically and culturally a European country.
2. The European portion of Turkey comprises 3% of the country, making it a transcontinental country.
3. Geographically, the majority of Russia lies in North Asia, but Russia is culturally and ethnically a part of Europe. European Russia is home to 78% of Russia's total population, but covers less than 25% of Russia's total land area.
4. Kazakhstan is mainly located in Central Asia with a small portion west of the Ural River located in Eastern Europe.
5. Armenia is sometimes considered a European country. Geographically, it is considered an Asian country. By physiographic criteria, Armenia integrates Asia, but the country has political, historical and cultural ties with Europe.
6. Geographically, Azerbaijan is located in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia, straddling Western Asia and Eastern Europe.

References

1. "Table 1: Human Development Index (HDI) and its components".
2. Human Development Report 2021-22 Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World. United Nations Development Programme. 8 September 2022. pp. 284–288. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
3. "Human Development Report 2019 – "Human Development Indices and Indicators"" (PDF). HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. pp. 22–25. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
4. "Table 2: Trends in the Human Development Index, 1990-2015".
5. Human Development Report 2023-24 – Breaking the gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world. United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. pp. 288–292.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
6. Human Development Report 2023-24 – Breaking the gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world. United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. pp. 288–292.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)