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List of countries by Human Development Index

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The HDI is the most widely used indicator of human development and has changed how people view the concept. 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; and the limited factors it considers, noting the omission of factors such as the levels of distributional and gender inequality. 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. Others have criticized the perceived oversimplification of using a single number per country.

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. 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.

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.

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.

World map
No data}}
DimensionsIndicatorsDimension indexLong and healthy lifeKnowledgeA decent standard of living
Life expectancy at birthLife expectancy index
Expected years of schooling
Mean years of schoolingEducation index
GNI per capita (PPP $)GNI index

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The Human Development Report includes data for all 193 member states of the United Nations, as well as Hong Kong SAR and Palestine. However, the Human Development Index is not calculated for two UN member states: Monaco and North Korea, only some components of the index are calculated for these two countries. The Cook Islands, the Holy See (Vatican City), and Niue are the only three state parties within the United Nations System which are not included in the report. In total, the HDI is available for 192 countries and one territory.

Data is for the year 2023.

RankChange
since
2015Country or territoryHDI value%
annual growth
(2010–2023)Iceland}}Norway}}Switzerland}}Denmark}}Germany}}Sweden}}Australia}}Netherlands}}Hong Kong}}Belgium}}Ireland}}Finland}}Singapore}}United Kingdom}}United Arab Emirates}}Canada}}Liechtenstein}}New Zealand}}United States}}South Korea}}Slovenia}}Austria}}Japan}}Malta}}Luxembourg}}France}}Israel}}Spain}}Czechia}}Italy}}San Marino}}Andorra}}Cyprus}}Greece}}Poland}}Estonia}}Saudi Arabia}}Bahrain}}Lithuania}}Portugal}}Croatia}}Latvia}}Qatar}}Slovakia}}Chile}}Hungary}}Argentina}}Montenegro}}Uruguay}}Oman}}Turkey}}Kuwait}}Antigua and Barbuda}}Seychelles}}Bulgaria}}Romania}}Georgia}}Saint Kitts and Nevis}}Panama}}Brunei}}Kazakhstan}}Costa Rica}}Serbia}}Russia}}Belarus}}Bahamas}}Malaysia}}North Macedonia}}Barbados}}Armenia}}Albania}}Trinidad and Tobago}}Mauritius}}Bosnia and Herzegovina}}Iran}}Saint Vincent and the Grenadines}}Thailand}}China}}Peru}}Grenada}}Azerbaijan}}Mexico}}Colombia}}Brazil}}Palau}}Moldova}}Ukraine}}Ecuador}}Dominican Republic}}Guyana}}Sri Lanka}}Tonga}}Maldives}}Vietnam}}Turkmenistan}}Algeria}}Cuba}}Dominica}}Paraguay}}Egypt}}Jordan}}Lebanon}}Saint Lucia}}Mongolia}}Tunisia}}South Africa}}Uzbekistan}}Bolivia}}Gabon}}Marshall Islands}}Botswana}}Fiji}}Indonesia}}Suriname}}Belize}}Libya}}Jamaica}}Kyrgyzstan}}Philippines}}Morocco}}Venezuela}}Samoa}}Nicaragua}}Nauru}}Bhutan}}Eswatini}}Iraq}}Tajikistan}}Tuvalu}}Bangladesh}}India}}El Salvador}}Equatorial Guinea}}Palestine}}Cape Verde}}Namibia}}Guatemala}}Republic of the Congo}}Honduras}}Kiribati}}São Tomé and Príncipe}}Timor-Leste}}Ghana}}Kenya}}Nepal}}Vanuatu}}Laos}}Angola}}Micronesia}}Myanmar}}Cambodia}}Comoros}}Zimbabwe}}Zambia}}Cameroon}}Solomon Islands}}Ivory Coast}}Uganda}}Rwanda}}Papua New Guinea}}Togo}}Syria}}Mauritania}}Nigeria}}Tanzania}}Haiti}}Lesotho}}Pakistan}}Senegal}}Gambia}}Democratic Republic of the Congo}}Malawi}}Benin}}Guinea-Bissau}}Djibouti}}Sudan}}Liberia}}Eritrea}}Guinea}}Ethiopia}}Islamic Emirate of Afghanistanname=Afghanistan}}Mozambique}}Madagascar}}Yemen}}Sierra Leone}}Burkina Faso}}Burundi}}Mali}}Niger}}Chad}}Central African Republic}}Somalia}}South Sudan}}
10.972
20.970
40.962
50.959
70.958
80.955
100.951
110.949
120.948
130.946
150.940
160.939
170.938
200.937
210.931
220.930
230.925
240.924
250.922
260.920
270.919
280.918
290.915
320.913
340.908
350.906
360.905
370.900
380.899
390.895
400.890
410.889
430.886
440.880
450.878
460.870
470.865
480.862
500.858
510.853
520.852
530.851
540.848
550.845
570.844
580.840
590.839
600.837
620.833
640.832
650.824
660.820
670.819
680.815
690.811
710.810
720.807
730.806
740.804
750.799
760.798
780.797
790.794
800.791
810.789
830.788
840.786
860.785
870.779
880.777
890.776
920.769
930.766
950.764
960.763
970.762
980.761
990.756
1000.754
1020.752
1030.748
1040.747
1050.746
1060.741
1070.740
1080.733
1110.731
1130.728
1140.722
1150.721
1170.720
1200.710
1210.709
1220.708
1230.706
1240.703
1250.698
1260.695
1280.691
1290.689
1300.685
1320.678
1330.674
1350.668
1360.665
1370.662
1380.649
1390.645
1400.644
1410.637
1420.634
1430.628
1450.622
1460.621
1470.617
1480.616
1490.615
1500.609
1510.606
1520.603
1530.598
1540.595
1550.588
1560.584
1570.582
1590.578
1600.576
1610.571
1620.564
1630.563
1640.560
1650.555
1660.554
1670.550
1680.544
1690.530
1700.524
1710.522
1720.517
1730.515
1740.514
1750.513
1760.511
1770.510
1780.503
1790.500
1800.497
1810.496
1820.493
1830.487
1840.470
1850.467
1860.459
1870.439
1880.419
1900.416
1910.414
1920.404
1930.388

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, HDI groups including the countries currently falling into a given HDI bracket, OECD members and various other UN groupings. 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.

Region or group19902000201020152020202120222023Annual
growth
(1990-2023)OECD*Very high human development*Europe and Central AsiaLatin America and the Caribbean*High human development*East Asia and the PacificWorldSmall Island Developing StatesArab statesDeveloping countriesSouth Asia*Medium human development*Sub-Saharan AfricaLeast developed countries*Low human development*
0.8010.8460.8830.8990.9030.9040.9100.916+0.41%
0.7970.8380.8790.8980.9010.9030.9080.914+0.42%
0.6740.6860.7530.7890.8020.8030.8150.818+0.59%
0.6480.6970.7470.7670.7640.7620.7780.783+0.58%
0.5690.6360.7140.7440.7630.7660.7740.777+0.95%
0.5140.6040.6990.7350.7640.7680.7730.775+1.25%
0.6080.6510.7070.7310.7420.7420.7520.756+0.66%
0.6170.6600.7020.7270.7310.7270.7370.739+0.55%
0.5500.6150.6700.6930.7070.7100.7160.719+0.82%
0.5200.5760.6490.6800.6960.6960.7080.712+0.96%
0.4540.5080.5900.6270.6450.6410.6650.672+1.20%
0.4390.4910.5730.6110.6310.6290.6490.656+1.22%
0.4050.4350.5100.5400.5570.5580.5650.568+1.03%
0.3600.4110.4940.5260.5500.5490.5550.560+1.35%
0.3460.3930.4670.4910.5070.5070.5120.515+1.21%

Notes

References

References

  1. (February 1999). "An Assessment of the Measurement Properties of the Human Development Index". Social Indicators Research.
  2. (8 November 2018). "The best country to live in might not be Norway after all".
  3. Ravallion, Martin. (2012-11-01). "Troubling tradeoffs in the Human Development Index". Journal of Development Economics.
  4. Sharma, Shalendra D.. (1997-02-01). "Making the Human Development Index (HDI) gender-sensitive". Gender & Development.
  5. (2010). "Human Development Report 2010". United Nations Development Programme.
  6. (1995). "Human development report 1995". Oxford University Press for the United Nations Development Programme.
  7. Castles, Ian. (1998). "The Mismeasure of Nations: A Review Essay". Population and Development Review.
  8. (31 May 2018). "The Subnational Human Development Index: Moving beyond country-level averages". United Nations Development Programme.
  9. (15 December 2020). "Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene". United Nations Development Programme.
  10. "Human Development Index (HDI) {{!}} Human Development Reports". United Nations Development Programme.
  11. (1 May 1990). "Human Development Report 1990". United Nations Development Programme.
  12. "Human Development Report 2019 – Technical notes". United Nations Development Programme.
  13. "Human Development Report 2020: Reader's Guide". United Nations Development Programme.
  14. "Human Development Index (HDI)". UNDP.
  15. Nations, United. "Member States". United Nations.
  16. "A World Tour of the States not recognized by the UN".
  17. [https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2025reporten.pdf UNDP Human Development Report 2025]
  18. (6 May 2025). "Human Development Report 2025 - A matter of choice: People and possibilities in the age of AI". United Nations Development Programme.
  19. "Developing regions {{!}} Human Development Reports". United Nations Development Programme.
  20. "Human Development Report 2020: Reader's Guide {{!}} Human Development Reports". United Nations Development Programme.
  21. "Human Development Report 2020 – Technical notes". United Nations Development Programme.
  22. (8 September 2022). "Human Development Report 2021-22: Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World". United Nations Development Programme.
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