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Human Development Index (HDI) by Country 2024

Snapshot

  • The HDI measures countries' achievements in health, education, and standard of living, showing a global upward trend but recent declines due to COVID-19.

  • Countries with high HDI scores, like Switzerland and Norway, exhibit stable governments, quality education and healthcare, and strong economies.

  • Least-developed countries, with low HDI scores, face challenges like unstable governments, poverty, and lack of healthcare and education.

The Human Development Index, or HDI, is a metric compiled by the United Nations Development Programme and used to quantify a country's "average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living." The HDI was first launched in 1990 and has been released annually ever since, with the exceptions of 2012 and 2020/21. While HDI tends to trend upward globally over time, more than 90% of the 191 countries analyzed for the 2021/22 HDI report suffered a decline in overall HDI in either 2020 or 2021. These declines were largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and its lingering effects.

A country's Human Development Index value is determined by aggregating the country's scores in a vast assortment of indicators including life expectancy, literacy rate, rural populations' access to electricity, GDP per capita, exports and imports, homicide rate, multidimensional poverty index, income inequality, internet availability, and many more. These indicators are compiled into a single number between 0 and 1.0, with 1.0 being the highest possible human development. HDI is divided into four tiers: very high human development (0.8-1.0), high human development (0.7-0.79), medium human development (0.55-.70), and low human development (below 0.55).

Countries with the Highest Human Development Index (HDI)

Country
HDI 2021
Switzerland 0.965
Norway 0.964
Hong Kong 0.959
Iceland 0.957
Australia 0.949
Sweden 0.949
Germany 0.948
Denmark 0.947
Ireland 0.946
Singapore 0.942

Most developed countries have an HDI score of 0.8 or above, landing them in the very high human development tier. These countries have stable governments, widespread affordable education and healthcare, high life expectancies and quality of life, and growing, powerful economies.

In contrast to this are the world's least-developed countries (LDCs), which tend to have HDI scores below 0.55, in the "low human development" category. LDCs face unstable governments, widespread poverty, lack of access to healthcare, and poor education. Additionally, these countries have low income and low life expectancies, coupled with high birth rates. This illustrates the fundamental purpose of the HDI: to help the United Nations determine which countries (especially which least-developed countries) are most in need of assistance.

10 Countries with the Lowest Human Development Index (HDI)

Country
HDI 2021
South Sudan 0.381
Central African Republic 0.387
Niger 0.389
Chad 0.393
Mali 0.408
Burundi 0.419
Yemen 0.425
Burkina Faso 0.445
Sierra Leone 0.456
Mozambique 0.459

Emerging concerns in the Human Development Index 2021/22

The 2021/22 version of the HDI report outlined what it called an emerging "new uncertainty complex", in which three rising factors: widespread and intensifying politcal and societal polarization, dangerous planetary climate change, and sweeping societal industrial transformation (such as increasing automation), were generating new and unpredictable types of uncertainty. The report offers the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 war in Ukraine as example manifestations of this new uncertainty complex.

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Country
HDI Tier
HDI 2022
HDI 2021
HDI 2020
HDI 2019
HDI 2010
HDI 2000
HDI 1990
United States Very High 0.927 0.921 0.923 0.933 0.916 0.894 0.875
Russia Very High 0.821 0.818 0.826 0.839 0.797 0.733 0.741
Japan Very High 0.920 0.920 0.917 0.918 0.903 0.883 0.846
Turkey Very High 0.855 0.841 0.835 0.842 0.750 0.669 0.598
Germany Very High 0.950 0.948 0.948 0.951 0.929 0.890 0.828
Thailand Very High 0.803 0.797 0.800 0.801 0.743 0.663 0.581
United Kingdom Very High 0.940 0.931 0.920 0.933 0.913 0.863 0.804
France Very High 0.910 0.906 0.900 0.905 0.880 0.844 0.790
Italy Very High 0.906 0.899 0.892 0.899 0.880 0.842 0.780
South Korea Very High 0.929 0.926 0.922 0.922 0.890 0.824 0.731
Spain Very High 0.911 0.904 0.894 0.904 0.868 0.828 0.762
Argentina Very High 0.849 0.844 0.841 0.853 0.834 0.780 0.724
Poland Very High 0.881 0.876 0.874 0.880 0.845 0.794 0.715
Canada Very High 0.935 0.934 0.928 0.932 0.911 0.890 0.861
Saudi Arabia Very High 0.875 0.867 0.861 0.862 0.805 0.746 0.699
Malaysia Very High 0.807 0.798 0.802 0.805 0.768 0.726 0.649
Australia Very High 0.946 0.949 0.948 0.941 0.924 0.896 0.864
Kazakhstan Very High 0.802 0.801 0.806 0.810 0.766 0.680 0.672
Chile Very High 0.860 0.856 0.849 0.859 0.813 0.763 0.705
Romania Very High 0.827 0.825 0.828 0.834 0.813 0.721 0.709
Netherlands Very High 0.946 0.941 0.938 0.941 0.917 0.892 0.847
Belgium Very High 0.942 0.938 0.930 0.936 0.913 0.884 0.814
Sweden Very High 0.952 0.949 0.944 0.947 0.910 0.903 0.808
Czech Republic Very High 0.895 0.891 0.891 0.896 0.872 0.810 0.748
Greece Very High 0.893 0.887 0.887 0.890 0.874 0.818 0.762
Portugal Very High 0.874 0.865 0.861 0.864 0.831 0.793 0.703
Hungary Very High 0.851 0.846 0.849 0.854 0.829 0.773 0.721
United Arab Emirates Very High 0.937 0.931 0.930 0.933 0.828 0.790 0.717
Belarus Very High 0.801 0.801 0.800 0.810 0.790 0.708
Israel Very High 0.915 0.911 0.906 0.909 0.887 0.835 0.781
Austria Very High 0.926 0.920 0.916 0.920 0.903 0.870 0.823
Switzerland Very High 0.967 0.965 0.957 0.960 0.940 0.885 0.850
Hong Kong Very High 0.956 0.959 0.955 0.953 0.914 0.831 0.739
Serbia Very High 0.805 0.804 0.806 0.812 0.768 0.689
Singapore Very High 0.949 0.942 0.942 0.945 0.921 0.863 0.780
Denmark Very High 0.952 0.947 0.946 0.946 0.913 0.890 0.839
Slovakia Very High 0.855 0.852 0.860 0.863 0.841 0.761
Finland Very High 0.942 0.941 0.939 0.939 0.912 0.887 0.811
Norway Very High 0.966 0.964 0.963 0.961 0.938 0.914 0.845
New Zealand Very High 0.939 0.936 0.935 0.937 0.924 0.894 0.812
Costa Rica Very High 0.806 0.804 0.811 0.811 0.769 0.709 0.659
Ireland Very High 0.950 0.946 0.945 0.942 0.908 0.851 0.743
Oman Very High 0.819 0.810 0.823 0.841 0.798 0.702
Panama Very High 0.820 0.813 0.809 0.820 0.775 0.722 0.672
Kuwait Very High 0.847 0.836 0.826 0.838 0.811 0.780 0.698
Croatia Very High 0.878 0.867 0.860 0.866 0.824 0.764
Georgia Very High 0.814 0.809 0.807 0.816 0.763 0.694
Uruguay Very High 0.830 0.814 0.820 0.818 0.785 0.754 0.702
Qatar Very High 0.875 0.864 0.863 0.869 0.829 0.793 0.764
Lithuania Very High 0.879 0.875 0.880 0.886 0.846 0.769 0.740
Slovenia Very High 0.926 0.916 0.910 0.918 0.890 0.823
Latvia Very High 0.879 0.865 0.873 0.873 0.827 0.761 0.732
Trinidad and Tobago Very High 0.814 0.804 0.815 0.813 0.785 0.708 0.656
Bahrain Very High 0.888 0.884 0.884 0.888 0.807 0.775 0.733
Estonia Very High 0.899 0.890 0.891 0.893 0.864 0.798 0.741
Cyprus Very High 0.907 0.901 0.900 0.901 0.859 0.797 0.733
Luxembourg Very High 0.927 0.927 0.921 0.925 0.912 0.864 0.793
Montenegro Very High 0.844 0.840 0.832 0.841 0.806
Malta Very High 0.915 0.912 0.901 0.905 0.862 0.779 0.726
Brunei Very High 0.823 0.824 0.827 0.827 0.825 0.789 0.779
Bahamas Very High 0.820 0.799 0.798 0.802 0.800 0.788 0.760
Iceland Very High 0.959 0.957 0.955 0.958 0.927 0.895 0.834
Barbados Very High 0.809 0.803 0.803 0.806 0.792 0.760 0.728
Seychelles Very High 0.802 0.795 0.799 0.808 0.774 0.755
Antigua and Barbuda Very High 0.826 0.819 0.820 0.831 0.808
Andorra Very High 0.884 0.855 0.843 0.865 0.863 0.815
Saint Kitts and Nevis Very High 0.838 0.832 0.832 0.838 0.790
Liechtenstein Very High 0.942 0.936 0.933 0.940 0.916 0.871
San Marino Very High 0.867 0.853 0.844 0.861 0.901 0.875 0.841
India Medium 0.644 0.633 0.638 0.638 0.572 0.490 0.434
Bangladesh Medium 0.670 0.662 0.657 0.646 0.558 0.491 0.399
Kenya Medium 0.601 0.596 0.599 0.604 0.545 0.487 0.480
Myanmar Medium 0.608 0.599 0.615 0.608 0.506 0.407 0.333
Uganda Medium 0.550 0.545 0.545 0.544 0.500 0.392 0.329
Iraq Medium 0.673 0.667 0.661 0.678 0.629 0.583 0.497
Morocco Medium 0.698 0.688 0.683 0.684 0.604 0.525 0.448
Angola Medium 0.591 0.590 0.594 0.597 0.516 0.380
Ghana Medium 0.602 0.600 0.601 0.599 0.571 0.500 0.445
Nepal Medium 0.601 0.591 0.593 0.598 0.543 0.461 0.395
Venezuela Medium 0.699 0.690 0.691 0.720 0.759 0.699 0.657
Cameroon Medium 0.587 0.581 0.585 0.586 0.515 0.426 0.440
Syria Medium 0.557 0.558 0.561 0.564 0.661 0.587 0.563
Zambia Medium 0.569 0.565 0.569 0.574 0.528 0.418 0.417
Guatemala Medium 0.629 0.630 0.638 0.645 0.613 0.551 0.490
Cambodia Medium 0.600 0.596 0.596 0.596 0.542 0.431 0.379
Zimbabwe Medium 0.550 0.549 0.554 0.560 0.481 0.426 0.479
Bolivia Medium 0.698 0.691 0.691 0.715 0.661 0.625 0.546
Haiti Medium 0.552 0.551 0.557 0.559 0.449 0.485 0.441
Honduras Medium 0.624 0.620 0.621 0.629 0.596 0.553 0.513
Papua New Guinea Medium 0.568 0.564 0.567 0.562 0.497 0.456 0.394
Tajikistan Medium 0.679 0.677 0.656 0.668 0.631 0.548 0.616
Laos Medium 0.620 0.615 0.616 0.617 0.557 0.473 0.408
Nicaragua Medium 0.669 0.665 0.652 0.661 0.611 0.563 0.487
El Salvador Medium 0.674 0.669 0.666 0.676 0.657 0.609 0.519
Namibia Medium 0.610 0.616 0.634 0.638 0.584 0.549 0.595
Gabon Medium 0.693 0.687 0.704 0.702 0.656 0.626 0.599
Equatorial Guinea Medium 0.650 0.647 0.650 0.653 0.609 0.511
Timor Leste Medium 0.566 0.574 0.633 0.627 0.639 0.495
Eswatini Medium 0.610 0.612 0.622 0.623 0.498 0.465 0.546
Comoros Medium 0.586 0.585 0.588 0.584 0.524 0.458
Bhutan Medium 0.681 0.677 0.675 0.668 0.582
Solomon Islands Medium 0.562 0.564 0.566 0.568 0.553 0.488
Suriname Medium 0.690 0.689 0.702 0.710 0.696
Cape Verde Medium 0.661 0.650 0.649 0.667 0.649 0.590
Vanuatu Medium 0.614 0.614 0.612 0.614 0.578
Sao Tome and Principe Medium 0.613 0.609 0.609 0.608 0.553 0.498 0.480
Kiribati Medium 0.628 0.627 0.629 0.636 0.584 0.547
Micronesia Medium 0.634 0.634 0.636 0.640 0.644 0.637
Nauru Medium 0.696 0.693 0.689 0.680 0.559
Tuvalu Medium 0.653 0.653 0.655 0.654 0.623 0.599 0.564
Pakistan Low 0.540 0.537 0.536 0.537 0.496 0.434 0.394
Nigeria Low 0.548 0.542 0.539 0.537 0.488
Ethiopia Low 0.492 0.489 0.489 0.485 0.409 0.286
DR Congo Low 0.481 0.475 0.477 0.476 0.424 0.376 0.377
Tanzania Low 0.532 0.529 0.535 0.533 0.493 0.396 0.366
Sudan Low 0.516 0.516 0.518 0.521 0.489 0.420 0.322
Afghanistan Low 0.462 0.473 0.488 0.492 0.449 0.340 0.284
Yemen Low 0.424 0.425 0.430 0.430 0.496 0.434 0.357
Mozambique Low 0.461 0.459 0.467 0.465 0.407 0.303 0.239
Madagascar Low 0.487 0.484 0.486 0.498 0.488 0.438
Ivory Coast Low 0.534 0.530 0.530 0.529 0.470 0.454 0.425
Niger Low 0.394 0.389 0.391 0.390 0.336 0.260 0.212
Mali Low 0.410 0.408 0.407 0.421 0.406 0.315 0.236
Burkina Faso Low 0.438 0.445 0.446 0.446 0.372 0.296
Malawi Low 0.508 0.509 0.512 0.514 0.461 0.378 0.299
Chad Low 0.394 0.393 0.396 0.398 0.364 0.292
Somalia Low 0.380
Senegal Low 0.517 0.512 0.514 0.514 0.470 0.388 0.371
Guinea Low 0.471 0.467 0.471 0.470 0.415 0.345 0.270
Rwanda Low 0.548 0.539 0.535 0.531 0.485 0.328
Benin Low 0.504 0.502 0.501 0.506 0.481 0.412 0.350
Burundi Low 0.420 0.419 0.419 0.423 0.404 0.298 0.285
South Sudan Low 0.381 0.381 0.386 0.391 0.406
Togo Low 0.547 0.545 0.540 0.536 0.469 0.436 0.399
Sierra Leone Low 0.458 0.456 0.453 0.457 0.416 0.319 0.314
Central African Republic Low 0.387 0.387 0.389 0.391 0.357 0.319 0.333
Liberia Low 0.487 0.484 0.483 0.485 0.460 0.434
Mauritania Low 0.540 0.538 0.539 0.552 0.508 0.461 0.397
Eritrea Low 0.493 0.490 0.490 0.487 0.458
Gambia Low 0.495 0.490 0.492 0.492 0.449 0.392 0.323
Lesotho Low 0.521 0.522 0.530 0.528 0.470 0.456 0.479
Guinea Bissau Low 0.483 0.482 0.482 0.488 0.441
Djibouti Low 0.515 0.512 0.512 0.508 0.422 0.330
China High 0.788 0.785 0.781 0.775 0.698 0.586 0.482
Indonesia High 0.713 0.707 0.712 0.718 0.667 0.597 0.526
Brazil High 0.760 0.756 0.758 0.764 0.722 0.668 0.620
Mexico High 0.781 0.757 0.757 0.781 0.747 0.709 0.666
Philippines High 0.710 0.692 0.705 0.714 0.673 0.635 0.598
Egypt High 0.728 0.726 0.729 0.724 0.667 0.629 0.567
Vietnam High 0.726 0.718 0.726 0.717 0.676 0.599 0.492
Iran High 0.780 0.776 0.779 0.785 0.756 0.692 0.613
South Africa High 0.717 0.721 0.722 0.741 0.675 0.633 0.635
Colombia High 0.758 0.752 0.756 0.768 0.732 0.672 0.614
Algeria High 0.745 0.740 0.730 0.742 0.721 0.652 0.593
Ukraine High 0.734 0.755 0.762 0.774 0.766 0.698 0.731
Uzbekistan High 0.727 0.721 0.716 0.725 0.675 0.603
Peru High 0.762 0.755 0.758 0.774 0.725 0.675 0.620
Sri Lanka High 0.780 0.783 0.777 0.775 0.735 0.689 0.641
Ecuador High 0.765 0.746 0.734 0.758 0.736 0.684 0.645
Tunisia High 0.732 0.729 0.734 0.740 0.713 0.651 0.566
Dominican Republic High 0.766 0.756 0.760 0.765 0.707 0.646 0.579
Jordan High 0.736 0.736 0.740 0.744 0.727 0.681 0.622
Cuba High 0.764 0.742 0.759 0.766 0.779 0.694 0.684
Azerbaijan High 0.760 0.738 0.722 0.762 0.733 0.635
Libya High 0.746 0.746 0.737 0.756 0.774 0.746 0.724
Paraguay High 0.731 0.730 0.742 0.746 0.700 0.656 0.604
Kyrgyzstan High 0.701 0.696 0.691 0.699 0.661 0.617 0.637
Bulgaria High 0.799 0.796 0.802 0.813 0.790 0.723 0.698
Turkmenistan High 0.744 0.740 0.731 0.732 0.699
Palestine High 0.716 0.715 0.715 0.739 0.688
Lebanon High 0.723 0.725 0.742 0.760 0.749
Mongolia High 0.741 0.730 0.740 0.749 0.700 0.595 0.579
Moldova High 0.763 0.767 0.765 0.773 0.716 0.655 0.688
Bosnia and Herzegovina High 0.779 0.776 0.776 0.780 0.718 0.656
Albania High 0.789 0.785 0.784 0.800 0.766 0.678 0.649
Jamaica High 0.706 0.704 0.707 0.712 0.711 0.657 0.664
Armenia High 0.786 0.774 0.769 0.789 0.739 0.656 0.658
Botswana High 0.708 0.680 0.701 0.703 0.652 0.581 0.587
North Macedonia High 0.765 0.764 0.766 0.787 0.746 0.676
Mauritius High 0.796 0.790 0.792 0.806 0.755 0.682 0.620
Fiji High 0.729 0.715 0.722 0.730 0.699 0.669 0.630
Guyana High 0.742 0.721 0.727 0.711 0.650 0.570 0.496
Maldives High 0.762 0.753 0.737 0.753 0.692 0.635
Belize High 0.700 0.698 0.705 0.718 0.720 0.657 0.609
Samoa High 0.702 0.708 0.712 0.712 0.704 0.672
Saint Lucia High 0.725 0.717 0.724 0.733 0.731 0.692 0.666
Grenada High 0.793 0.788 0.786 0.790 0.779
Tonga High 0.739 0.738 0.742 0.740 0.709 0.679 0.640
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines High 0.772 0.773 0.785 0.789 0.756 0.691
Dominica High 0.740 0.737 0.738 0.745 0.735 0.721
Marshall Islands High 0.731 0.729 0.727 0.722
Palau High 0.797 0.802 0.794 0.792 0.775 0.747
Total 0.722 0.723 0.728 0.691 0.637 0.602
showing: 192 rows

Which country has the highest HDI?

Switzerland has the highest Human Development Index with a rating of 0.965.

Which country has the lowest HDI?

South Sudan has the lowest Human Development Index, earning a 0.381.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Human Development Index (HDI) - UNDP
  2. Human Development Data Center - United Nations
  3. Human Development Insights - United Nations Development Programme
  4. Reports and Publications - United Nations Development Programme
  5. Human Development Index (HDI) (2019 data) - United Nations

Sources