Human Development Index

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a

statistic composite index of life expectancy,
education, and per capita income indicators,
which are used to rank countries into four tiers
of human development. A country scores a
higher HDI when the lifespan is higher, the
education level is higher, and the gross national
income GNI (PPP) per capita is higher. It was
developed by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul
Haq and was further used to measure a
country's development by the United Nations World map representing Human Development Index categories (based on
2018 data, published in 2019).
Development Programme (UNDP)'s Human
0.800–1.000 (very high) 0.350–0.549 (low)
Development Report Office.[1][2][3]
0.700–0.799 (high) Data unavailable
The 2010 Human Development Report 0.550–0.699 (medium)
introduced an Inequality-adjusted Human
Development Index (IHDI). While the simple
HDI remains useful, it stated that "the IHDI is
the actual level of human development
(accounting for inequality)", and "the HDI can
be viewed as an index of 'potential' human
development (or the maximum IHDI that could
be achieved if there were no inequality)". The
index does not take into account several factors,
such as the net wealth per capita or the relative
quality of goods in a country. This situation
tends to lower the ranking for some of the most
World map of countries by Human Development Index categories in
advanced countries, such as the G7 members
increments of 0.050 (based on 2018 data, published in 2019).
and others.[4] ≥ 0.900 0.650–0.699 0.400–0.449

The index is based on the human development 0.850–0.899 0.600–0.649 ≤ 0.399

approach, developed by ul Haq, often framed in 0.800–0.849 0.550–0.599 Data unavailable
terms of whether people are able to "be" and 0.750–0.799 0.500–0.549
"do" desirable things in life. Examples include 0.700–0.749 0.450–0.499
—Being: well fed, sheltered, healthy; Doings:
work, education, voting, participating in
community life. The freedom of choice is central—someone choosing to be hungry (as during a religious fast) is quite
different from someone who is hungry because they cannot afford to buy food, or because the country is in a famine.[5]

Contents
Origins
Dimensions and calculation
New method (2010 Index onwards)
Old method (before 2010 Index)
2018 Human Development Index (2019 report)
 Inequality-adjusted HDI (2019 report)
2017 Human Development Index (2018 report)
Inequality-adjusted HDI (2018 report)
2015 Human Development Index (2016 report)
Inequality-adjusted HDI (2016 report)
2014 Human Development Index (2015 report)
Inequality-adjusted HDI (2015 report)
2013 Human Development Index (2014 report)
Countries not included
Inequality-adjusted HDI (2014 report)
Past top countries
In each original HDI
Geographical coverage
Country/region specific HDI lists
Criticism
Sources of data error
See also
Indices
Other
References
External links

Origins
The origins of the HDI are found in the annual Human Development Reports produced
by the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP). These were devised and launched by Pakistani economist
Mahbub ul Haq in 1990, and had the explicit purpose "to shift the focus of
development economics from national income accounting to people-centered
policies". To produce the Human Development Reports, Mahbub ul Haq formed a
group of development economists including Paul Streeten, Frances Stewart, Gustav
Ranis, Keith Griffin, Sudhir Anand, and Meghnad Desai. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen
utilized Haq's work in his own work on human capabilities.[3] Haq believed that a
simple composite measure of human development was needed to convince the public, Mahbub ul Haq
academics, and politicians that they can and should evaluate development not only by
economic advances but also improvements in human well-being.

Amartya Sen
 The underlying principle behind the Human Development Index.[5]

Dimensions and calculation

New method (2010 Index onwards)

Published on 4 November 2010 (and updated on 10
June 2011), the 2010 Human Development Report
calculated the HDI combining three
dimensions:[7][8]

A long and healthy life: Life expectancy at

birth
Education index: Mean years of schooling
and Expected years of schooling
A decent standard of living: GNI per capita World map representing Human Development Index categories
(PPP US$)
(based on 2017 data, published in 2018).[6]
In its 2010 Human Development Report, the UNDP 0.800–1.000 (very high) 0.350–0.554 (low)
began using a new method of calculating the HDI. 0.700–0.799 (high) Data unavailable
The following three indices are used: 0.555–0.699 (medium)

1. Life Expectancy Index (LEI)

LEI is 1 when Life expectancy at birth is 85 and 0 when Life expectancy at birth is 20.

2. Education Index (EI) [9]

2.1 Mean Years of Schooling Index (MYSI) [10]

Fifteen is the projected maximum of this indicator for 2025.

2.2 Expected Years of Schooling Index (EYSI) [11]

Eighteen is equivalent to achieving a master's degree in most countries.

3. Income Index (II)

II is 1 when GNI per capita is $75,000 and 0 when GNI per capita is $100.

Finally, the HDI is the geometric mean of the previous three normalized indices:
LE: Life expectancy at birth
MYS: Mean years of schooling (i.e. years that a person aged 25 or older has spent in formal education)
EYS: Expected years of schooling (i.e. total expected years of schooling for children under 18 years of age)
GNIpc: Gross national income at purchasing power parity per capita

Old method (before 2010 Index)

The HDI combined three dimensions last used in its 2009 Report:

Life expectancy at birth, as an index of population health and longevity to HDI

Knowledge and education, as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weighting) and the
combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio (with one-third weighting).
Standard of living, as indicated by the natural logarithm of gross domestic product per capita at
purchasing power parity.
This methodology was used by the UNDP until their 2011 report.

The formula defining the HDI is promulgated by the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP).[12] In general, to transform a raw
variable, say , into a unit-free index between 0 and 1 (which allows
different indices to be added together), the following formula is used:

where and are the lowest and highest values the variable can
attain, respectively.

The Human Development Index (HDI) then represents the uniformly

weighted sum with 1⁄3 contributed by each of the following factor
indices: HDI trends between 1975 and 2004
OECD Arab League

Life Expectancy Index = Europe (not in the South Asia

OECD), and CIS Sub-
Education Index = Latin America and the Saharan Africa
Caribbean
East Asia
Adult Literacy Index (ALI) =

Gross Enrollment Index (GEI) =

GDP =

Other organizations/companies may include other factors, such as infant mortality, which produces a different HDI.

2018 Human Development Index (2019 report)

The Human Development Report 2019 by the United Nations Development Programme was released on 9 December
2019, and calculates HDI values based on data collected in 2018.[13] Below is the list of countries with "very high
human development":

= increase.
= steady.
= decrease.

Rank Country/territory HDI Rank Country HDI

 2018 Change 2018 Change 2018 Change 2018 Change
data in rank data from data in rank data from
(2019 from (2019 previous (2019 from (2019 previous
report) previous report) year report) previous report) year
rankings year[13] rankings [13] rankings year[13] rankings [13]
[13] [13] [13] [13]

1 Norway 0.954 0.001 32 Greece 0.872 0.001

2 Switzerland 0.946 0.003 32 (1) Poland 0.872 0.004

3 Ireland 0.942 0.003 34 Lithuania 0.869 0.003

4 Germany 0.939 0.001 United Arab

35 0.866 0.002
Emirates
4 (2) Hong Kong 0.939 0.003
36 (2) Andorra 0.857 0.005
6 (1) Australia 0.938 0.001
Saudi
6 (1) Iceland 0.938 0.003 36 0.857 0.001
Arabia
8 (1) Sweden 0.937 0.001 36 (1) Slovakia 0.857 0.003

9 Singapore 0.935 0.001 39 Latvia 0.854 0.004

10 Netherlands 0.933 0.001 40 Portugal 0.850 0.002

11 Denmark 0.930 0.001 41 Qatar 0.848

12 Finland 0.925 0.001 42 Chile 0.847 0.002

13 Canada 0.922 0.001 43 Brunei 0.845 0.002

14 New Zealand 0.921 0.001 43 Hungary 0.845 0.004

United 45 Bahrain 0.838 0.001

15 0.920 0.001
Kingdom
46 Croatia 0.837 0.002
15 United States 0.920 0.001
47 Oman 0.834 0.001
17 Belgium 0.919 0.002
48 Argentina 0.830 0.002
18 Liechtenstein 0.917 0.001
49 Russia 0.824 0.002
19 Japan 0.915 0.002
50 Belarus 0.817 0.002
20 Austria 0.914 0.002
50 (1) Kazakhstan 0.817 0.004
21 Luxembourg 0.909 0.001
52 (1) Bulgaria 0.816 0.003
22 Israel 0.906 0.002 52 (1) Montenegro 0.816 0.003
22 South Korea 0.906 0.002 52 (1) Romania 0.816 0.003
24 Slovenia 0.902 0.003 55 (1) Palau 0.814 0.003
25 Spain 0.893 0.002 56 (5) Barbados 0.813
Czech 57 Kuwait 0.808 0.001
26 0.891 0.003
Republic
57 (1) Uruguay 0.808 0.001
26 France 0.891 0.001
59 Turkey 0.806 0.001
28 Malta 0.885 0.002
60 Bahamas 0.805 0.001
29 Italy 0.883 0.002
61 Malaysia 0.804 0.002
30 Estonia 0.882 0.003
62 Seychelles 0.801 0.001
31 Cyprus 0.873 0.002

Inequality-adjusted HDI (2019 report)

The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)[13] is a "measure of the average level of human
development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account".

The rankings are not relative to the HDI list above due to the exclusion of countries which are missing IHDI data.

1. Norway 0.889 30. South Korea 0.777

2. Iceland 0.885 31. Hungary 0.777
3. Japan 0.882 32. Italy 0.776
4. Switzerland 0.882 33. Latvia 0.776
5. Finland 0.876 34. Lithuania 0.775
6. Sweden 0.874 35. Croatia 0.768
7. Denmark 0.873 36. Greece 0.766
8. Netherlands 0.870 37. Belarus 0.765
9. Ireland 0.865 38. Spain 0.765
10. Australia 0.862 39. Kazakhstan 0.759
11. Germany 0.861 40. Montenegro 0.746
12. Slovenia 0.858 41. Russia 0.743
13. Czech Republic 0.850 42. Portugal 0.742
14. Belgium 0.849 43. Oman 0.725
15. United Kingdom 0.845 44. Romania 0.725
16. Austria 0.843 45. Argentina 0.714
17. Canada 0.841 46. Bulgaria 0.714
18. New Zealand 0.836 47. Iran 0.706
19. Luxembourg 0.822 48. Albania 0.705
20. Estonia 0.818 49. Uruguay 0.703
21. Hong Kong 0.815 50. Ukraine 0.701
22. Malta 0.815 51. Chile 0.696
23. Singapore 0.810 52. Georgia 0.692
24. France 0.809 53. Mauritius 0.688
25. Israel 0.809 54. Sri Lanka 0.686
26. Slovakia 0.804 55. Armenia 0.685
27. Poland 0.801 56. Serbia 0.685
28. United States 0.797 57. Azerbaijan 0.683
29. Cyprus 0.788 58. Barbados 0.675
59. Turkey 0.675
Countries with "very high human development" with a missing IHDI: Liechtenstein, United Arab Emirates, Andorra,
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Brunei, Bahrain, Palau, Kuwait, Bahamas, Malaysia and Seychelles.

2017 Human Development Index (2018 report)

The Human Development Indices and Indicators: 2018 Statistical update by the United Nations Development
Programme was released on 14 September 2018, and calculates HDI values based on data collected in 2017.[14] Below
is the list of the "very high human development" countries:[14]

Rank HDI Rank HDI

Change Change Change Change
2017 in rank Country/Territory 2017 from 2017 in rank Country 2017 from
rankings from HDI previous rankings from rankings previous
[6] previous [6] year [6] previous [6] year
year[6] [6] year[6] [6]

1 Norway 0.953 0.002 31 (1) Greece 0.870 0.002

2 Switzerland 0.944 0.001 32 Cyprus 0.869 0.002

 3 Australia 0.939 0.001 33 (1) Poland 0.865 0.005

4 Ireland 0.938 0.004 United Arab

34 (1) 0.863 0.001
Emirates
5 (1) Germany 0.936 0.002
35 Andorra 0.858 0.002
6 Iceland 0.935 0.002
35 (1) Lithuania 0.858 0.003
7 (1) Hong Kong 0.933 0.003
37 (1) Qatar 0.856 0.001
7 Sweden 0.933 0.001
38 (1) Slovakia 0.855 0.002
9 (1) Singapore 0.932 0.002
39 (1) Brunei 0.853 0.001
10 Netherlands 0.931 0.003
Saudi
39 (1) 0.853 0.001
11 (1) Denmark 0.929 0.001 Arabia

12 Canada 0.926 0.004 41 (2) Latvia 0.847 0.003

13 (1) United States 0.924 0.002 41 (1) Portugal 0.847 0.002

United 43 (2) Bahrain 0.846

14 0.922 0.002
Kingdom
44 Chile 0.843 0.001
15 Finland 0.920 0.002
45 Hungary 0.838 0.003
16 New Zealand 0.917 0.002
46 Croatia 0.831 0.003
17 (1) Belgium 0.916 0.001
47 Argentina 0.825 0.003
17 (1) Liechtenstein 0.916 0.001
48 (1) Oman 0.821 0.001
19 Japan 0.909 0.002
49 Russia 0.816 0.001
20 Austria 0.908 0.002
50 Montenegro 0.814 0.004
21 Luxembourg 0.904 0.001
51 (1) Bulgaria 0.813 0.003
22 Israel 0.903 0.001
52 Romania 0.811 0.004
22 (1) South Korea 0.903 0.003
53 (1) Belarus 0.808 0.003
24 France 0.901 0.002 54 (1) Bahamas 0.807 0.001
25 Slovenia 0.896 0.002 55 (1) Uruguay 0.804 0.002
26 Spain 0.891 0.002 56 (1) Kuwait 0.803 0.001
Czech 57 Malaysia 0.802 0.003
27 0.888 0.003
Republic
58 (1) Barbados 0.800 0.001
28 Italy 0.880 0.002
58 (2) Kazakhstan 0.800 0.003
29 Malta 0.878 0.003

30 Estonia 0.871 0.003

Inequality-adjusted HDI (2018 report)

The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)[15] is a "measure of the average level of human
development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account".

The rankings are not relative to the HDI list above due to the exclusion of countries which are missing IHDI data (p. 30).

1. Iceland 0.878 6. Sweden 0.864

2. Japan 0.876 7. Germany 0.861
3. Norway 0.876 8. Australia 0.861
4. Switzerland 0.871 9. Denmark 0.860
5. Finland 0.868 10. Netherlands 0.857
11. Ireland 0.854 33. Latvia 0.759
12. Canada 0.852 34. Lithuania 0.757
13. New Zealand 0.846 35. Croatia 0.756
14. Slovenia 0.846 36. Belarus 0.755
15. Czech Republic 0.840 37. Spain 0.754
16. Belgium 0.836 38. Greece 0.753
17. United Kingdom 0.835 39. Montenegro 0.741
18. Austria 0.835 40. Russia 0.738
19. Singapore 0.816 41. Kazakhstan 0.737
20. Luxembourg 0.811 42. Portugal 0.732
21. Hong Kong 0.809 43. Romania 0.717
22. France 0.808 44. Bulgaria 0.710
23. Malta 0.805 45. Chile 0.710
24. Slovakia 0.797 46. Argentina 0.707
25. United States 0.797 47. Iran 0.707
26. Estonia 0.794 48. Albania 0.706
27. Israel 0.787 49. Ukraine 0.701
28. Poland 0.787 50. Uruguay 0.689
29. South Korea 0.773 51. Mauritius 0.683
30. Hungary 0.773 52. Georgia 0.682
31. Italy 0.771 53. Azerbaijan 0.681
32. Cyprus 0.769 54. Armenia 0.680
55. Barbados 0.669
Countries in the top quartile of HDI ("very high human development" group) with a missing IHDI: Liechtenstein, Saudi
Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Andorra, Qatar, Brunei, Bahrain, Oman, Bahamas, Kuwait and Malaysia.

2015 Human Development Index (2016 report)

The 2016 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme was released on 21 March
2017, and calculates HDI values based on estimates for 2015. Below is the list of the "very high human development"
countries:[16]

= increase.
= steady.
= decrease.
 Rank Score
2016 Change in 2016
Country or region Change from
estimates for rank from estimates for
previous year
2015 previous 2015 [17]
[17] year[17] [17]

1 Norway 0.949 0.001

2 Australia 0.939 0.002

2 Switzerland 0.939 0.001

4 (2) Germany 0.926 0.002

5 (1) Denmark 0.925 0.002

5 (6) Singapore 0.925 0.013

7 (1) Netherlands 0.924 0.001

8 Ireland 0.923 0.003

9 (7) Iceland 0.921 0.002

10 (1) Canada 0.920 0.001

10 (2) United States 0.920 0.002

12 Hong Kong 0.917 0.001

13 (4) New Zealand 0.915 0.002

14 (1) Sweden 0.913 0.004

15 (1) Liechtenstein 0.912 0.001

16 (4) United Kingdom 0.909 0.003

17 (3) Japan 0.903 0.001

18 South Korea 0.901 0.002

19 Israel 0.899 0.001

20 Luxembourg 0.898 0.002

21 (1) France 0.897 0.003

22 (1) Belgium 0.896 0.001

23 Finland 0.895 0.002

24 Austria 0.893 0.001

25 (2) Spain 0.892 0.005

26 Slovenia 0.890 0.002

27 (1) Italy 0.887 0.006

28 Czech Republic 0.878 0.003

29 Greece 0.866 0.001

30 (10) Slovakia 0.865 0.020

31 (1) Estonia 0.865 0.002

32 Andorra 0.858 0.001

33 (1) Cyprus 0.856 0.002

33 (2) Malta 0.856 0.003

33 Qatar 0.856 0.001

36 Poland 0.855 0.003

 37 Lithuania 0.848 0.002

38 (4) Chile 0.847 0.002

38 Saudi Arabia 0.847 0.002

41 Portugal 0.843 0.002

42 United Arab Emirates 0.840 0.004

43 Hungary 0.836 0.002

44 Latvia 0.830 0.002

45 (5) Argentina 0.827 0.001

45 (1) Croatia 0.827 0.004

47 (1) Bahrain 0.824 0.001

48 (1) Montenegro 0.807 0.003

49 (1) Russia 0.804 0.001

50 (1) Romania 0.802 0.004

51 (1) Kuwait 0.800 0.001

Inequality-adjusted HDI (2016 report)

The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)[18] is a "measure of the average level of human
development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account".

The rankings are not relative to the HDI list above due to the exclusion of countries which are missing IHDI data (p. 206).

1. Norway 0.898 21. Japan 0.791

2. Iceland 0.868 22. Spain 0.791
3. Australia 0.861 23. Estonia 0.788
4. Netherlands 0.861 24. Malta 0.786
5. Germany 0.859 25. Italy 0.784
6. Switzerland 0.859 26. Israel 0.778
7. Denmark 0.858 27. Poland 0.774
8. Sweden 0.851 28. Hungary 0.771
9. Ireland 0.850 29. Cyprus 0.762
10. Finland 0.843 30. Lithuania 0.759
11. Canada 0.839 31. Greece 0.758
12. Slovenia 0.838 32. Portugal 0.755
13. United Kingdom 0.836 33. South Korea 0.753
14. Czech Republic 0.830 34. Croatia 0.752
15. Luxembourg 0.827 35. Latvia 0.742
16. Belgium 0.821 36. Montenegro 0.736
17. Austria 0.815 37. Russia 0.725
18. France 0.813 38. Romania 0.714
19. United States 0.796 39. Argentina 0.698
20. Slovakia 0.793 40. Chile 0.691
Countries in the top quartile of HDI ("very high human development" group) with a missing IHDI: Andorra, Bahrain,
Brunei, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and United Arab Emirates.

2014 Human Development Index (2015 report)

The 2015 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme was released on 14 December
2015, and calculates HDI values based on estimates for 2014. Below is the list of the "very high human development"
countries:[19][20][21]

= increase.
= steady.
= decrease.
 Rank Score
2015 Change in 2015
Country Change from
estimates for rank from estimates for
previous year
2014 previous 2014 [22]
[22] year[22] [22]

1 Norway 0.944 0.002

2 Australia 0.935 0.002

3 Switzerland 0.930 0.002

4 Denmark 0.923

5 Netherlands 0.922 0.002

6 Germany 0.916 0.001

6 (2) Ireland 0.916 0.004

8 (1) United States 0.915 0.002

9 (1) Canada 0.913 0.001

9 (1) New Zealand 0.913 0.002

11 (2) Singapore 0.912 0.003

12 Hong Kong 0.910 0.002

13 Liechtenstein 0.908 0.001

14 Sweden 0.907 0.002

14 (1) United Kingdom 0.907 0.005

16 Iceland 0.899

17 South Korea 0.898 0.003

18 Israel 0.894 0.001

18 Macau 0.894 [23]

19 Luxembourg 0.892 0.002

20 (1) Japan 0.891 0.001

21 Belgium 0.890 0.002

22 France 0.888 0.001

23 Austria 0.885 0.001

24 Finland 0.883 0.001

25 Taiwan 0.882 [24]

26 Slovenia 0.880 0.001

27 Spain 0.876 0.002

28 Italy 0.873

29 Czech Republic 0.870 0.002

30 Greece 0.865 0.002

31 Estonia 0.861 0.002

32 Brunei 0.856 0.004

33 Cyprus 0.850

33 (1) Qatar 0.850 0.001

34 Andorra 0.845 0.001

 35 (1) Slovakia 0.844 0.005

36 (1) Poland 0.843 0.003

37 Lithuania 0.839 0.002

37 Malta 0.839 0.002

39 Saudi Arabia 0.837 0.001

40 Argentina 0.836 0.003

41 (1) United Arab Emirates 0.835 0.002

42 Chile 0.832 0.002

43 Portugal 0.830 0.002

44 Hungary 0.828 0.003

45 Bahrain 0.824 0.003

46 (1) Latvia 0.819 0.003

47 (1) Croatia 0.818 0.001

48 (1) Kuwait 0.816

49 Montenegro 0.802 0.001

Inequality-adjusted HDI (2015 report)

The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)[19] is a "measure of the average level of human
development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account".

Note: The green arrows ( ), red arrows ( ), and blue dashes ( ) represent changes in rank. The rankings are not relative to the HDI list
above due to the exclusion of countries which are missing IHDI data (p. 216).

1. Norway 0.893 ( ) 19. Slovakia 0.791 ( 2)

2. Netherlands 0.861 ( 1) 20. Estonia 0.782 ( 4)
3. Switzerland 0.861 ( 1) 21. Japan 0.780 ( 1)
4. Australia 0.858 ( 2) 22. Israel 0.775 ( 3)
5. Denmark 0.856 ( 3) 23. Spain 0.775 ( 1)
6. Germany 0.853 ( 1) 24. Italy 0.773 ( 1)
7. Iceland 0.846 ( 1) 25. Hungary 0.769 ( 2)
8. Sweden 0.846 ( 1) 26. Malta 0.767 ( )
9. Ireland 0.836 ( 1) 27. Poland 0.760 ( 2)
10. Finland 0.834 ( 1) 28. United States 0.760 ( )
11. Canada 0.832 ( 2) 29. Cyprus 0.758 ( 1)
12. Slovenia 0.829 ( ) 30. Greece 0.758 ( 5)
13. United Kingdom 0.829 ( 3) 31. Lithuania 0.754 ( )
14. Czech Republic 0.823 ( 1) 32. South Korea 0.751 ( 1)
15. Luxembourg 0.822 ( 1) 33. Portugal 0.744 ( 1)
16. Belgium 0.820 ( 1) 34. Croatia 0.743 ( 1)
17. Austria 0.816 ( 4) 35. Belarus 0.741
18. France 0.811 ( ) 36. Latvia 0.730
Countries in the top quartile of HDI ("very high human development" group) with a missing IHDI: Andorra, Bahrain,
Brunei, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and United Arab Emirates.

2013 Human Development Index (2014 report)

The 2014 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme was released on 24 July 2014
and calculates HDI values based on estimates for 2013. Below is the list of the "very high human development"
countries or regions:[25][20][21]

= increase.
= steady.
= decrease.
 Rank HDI
Change
Change in
New 2014 New 2014 compared
rank between Country or Region
estimates for estimates for between 2014
2014 report
2013 2013 report and
[26] and 2013 [26] 2013 report
report[26] [26]

1 Norway 0.944 0.011

2 Australia 0.933 0.002

3 Switzerland 0.917 0.001

4 Netherlands 0.915

5 United States 0.914 0.002

6 Germany 0.911

7 New Zealand 0.910 0.002

8 Canada 0.902 0.001

9 (3) Singapore 0.901 0.002

10 Denmark 0.900

11 (3) Ireland 0.899 0.017

12 (1) Sweden 0.898 0.001

13 Iceland 0.895 0.002

14 United Kingdom 0.892 0.002

14 Macau 0.892 [23]

15 Hong Kong 0.891 0.002

15 (1) South Korea 0.891 0.003

17 (1) Japan 0.890 0.002

18 (2) Liechtenstein 0.889 0.001

19 Israel 0.888 0.002

20 France 0.884

21 Taiwan 0.882 [24]

22 Austria 0.881 0.001

22 Belgium 0.881 0.001

22 Luxembourg 0.881 0.001

23 Finland 0.879

24 Slovenia 0.874

25 Italy 0.872

26 Spain 0.869

27 Czech Republic 0.861

28 Greece 0.853 0.001

29 Brunei 0.852

30 Qatar 0.851 0.001

31 Cyprus 0.845 0.003

32 Estonia 0.840 0.001

 33 Saudi Arabia 0.836 0.003

34 (1) Lithuania 0.834 0.003

34 (1) Poland 0.834 0.001

35 Andorra 0.830

35 (1) Slovakia 0.830 0.001

36 Malta 0.829 0.002

37 United Arab Emirates 0.827 0.002

38 (1) Chile 0.822 0.003

38 Portugal 0.822

39 Hungary 0.818 0.001

40 Bahrain 0.815 0.002

40 Cuba 0.815 0.002

41 (2) Kuwait 0.814 0.001

42 Croatia 0.812

43 Latvia 0.810 0.002

44 Argentina 0.808 0.002

Countries not included

Some countries were not included for various reasons, primarily due to the lack of necessary data. The following United
Nations Member States were not included in the 2014 report:[25] North Korea, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Nauru, San
Marino, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Tuvalu.

Inequality-adjusted HDI (2014 report)

The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)[25] is a "measure of the average level of human
development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account".

Note: The green arrows ( ), red arrows ( ), and blue dashes ( ) represent changes in rank. The rankings are not relative to the HDI list
above due to the exclusion of countries which are missing IHDI data (p. 168).

1. Norway 0.891 ( ) 18. France 0.804 ( )

2. Australia 0.860 ( ) 19. Israel 0.793 ( 1)
3. Netherlands 0.854 ( 1) 20. Japan 0.779 (New)
4. Switzerland 0.847 ( 3) 21. Slovakia 0.778 ( 1)
5. Germany 0.846 ( ) 22. Spain 0.775 ( 2)
6. Iceland 0.843 ( 2) 23. Italy 0.768 ( 1)
7. Sweden 0.840 ( 4) 24. Estonia 0.767 ( 1)
8. Denmark 0.838 ( 1) 25. Greece 0.762 ( 2)
9. Canada 0.833 ( 4) 26. Malta 0.760 ( 3)
10. Ireland 0.832 ( 4) 27. Hungary 0.757 ( 1)
11. Finland 0.830 ( ) 28. United States 0.755 ( 12)
12. Slovenia 0.824 ( 2) 29. Poland 0.751 ( 1)
13. Austria 0.818 ( 1) 30. Cyprus 0.752 ( 1)
14. Luxembourg 0.814 ( 3) 31. Lithuania 0.746 ( 2)
15. Czech Republic 0.813 ( 1) 32. Portugal 0.739 ( )
16. United Kingdom 0.812 ( 3) 33. South Korea 0.736 ( 5)
17. Belgium 0.806 ( 2) 34. Latvia 0.725 ( 1)
35. Croatia 0.721 ( 4) 37. Chile 0.661 ( 4)
36. Argentina 0.680 ( 7)
Countries in the top quartile of HDI ("very high human development" group) with a missing IHDI: New Zealand,
Singapore, Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, Brunei, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Andorra, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Cuba, and
Kuwait.

Past top countries

The list below displays the top-ranked country from each year of the Human Development Index. Norway has been
ranked the highest fourteen times, Canada eight times, and Japan three times. Iceland has been ranked highest twice.

In each original HDI

The year represents the time period from which the statistics for the index were derived. In parentheses is the year when
the report was published.

2017 (2018): Norway

2015 (2016): Norway
2014 (2015): Norway
2013 (2014): Norway
2012 (2013): Norway
2011 (2011): Norway
2010 (2010): Norway
2007 (2009): Norway
2006 (2008): Iceland
2005 (2007): Iceland
2004 (2006): Norway
2003 (2005): Norway
2002 (2004): Norway
2001 (2003): Norway
2000 (2002): Norway
1999 (2001): Norway
1998 (2000): Canada
1997 (1999): Canada
1995 (1998): Canada
1994 (1997): Canada
1993 (1996): Canada
1992 (1995): Canada
???? (1994): Canada
???? (1993): Japan
1990 (1992): Canada
1990 (1991): Japan
???? (1990): Japan

Geographical coverage
The HDI has extended its geographical coverage: David Hastings, of the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific, published a report geographically extending the HDI to 230+ economies, whereas
the UNDP HDI for 2009 enumerates 182 economies and coverage for the 2010 HDI dropped to 169 countries.[27][28]

Country/region specific HDI lists

 African countries
Argentine provinces
Australian states
Bolivian departments
Brazilian states
Canadian provinces and territories
Chilean regions
Chinese administrative divisions
Ethiopian regions
European countries
German states
Indian states
Indonesian provinces
Iranian provinces
Iraqi governorates
Italian regions
Japanese prefectures
Latin American countries
Mexican states
Pakistani districts
Philippine provinces
Russian federal subjects
South African provinces
Spanish communities
UK countries and regions of England
U.S. states (American Human Development Report (AHDR))
Venezuelan states
World, regional (Sub-national HDI by GDL) (http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/subnational-human-developme
nt-index-moving-beyond-country-level-averages)

Criticism
The Human Development Index has been criticized on a number of grounds,
including alleged lack of consideration of technological development or
contributions to the human civilization, focusing exclusively on national
performance and ranking, lack of attention to development from a global
perspective, measurement error of the underlying statistics, and on the UNDP's
changes in formula which can lead to severe misclassification in the
categorisation of "low", "medium", "high" or "very high" human development
countries.[29] HDI vs. ecological footprint

Sources of data error

Economists Hendrik Wolff, Howard Chong and Maximilian Auffhammer discuss the HDI from the perspective of data
error in the underlying health, education and income statistics used to construct the HDI. They identified three sources
of data error which are due to (i) data updating, (ii) formula revisions and (iii) thresholds to classify a country's
development status and conclude that 11%, 21% and 34% of all countries can be interpreted as currently misclassified
in the development bins due to the three sources of data error, respectively. The authors suggest that the United Nations
should discontinue the practice of classifying countries into development bins because: the cut-off values seem arbitrary,
can provide incentives for strategic behavior in reporting official statistics, and have the potential to misguide
politicians, investors, charity donors and the public who use the HDI at large.[29]
In 2010, the UNDP reacted to the criticism and updated the thresholds to classify nations as low, medium, and high
human development countries. In a comment to The Economist in early January 2011, the Human Development Report
Office responded[30] to a 6 January 2011 article in the magazine[31] which discusses the Wolff et al. paper. The Human
Development Report Office states that they undertook a systematic revision of the methods used for the calculation of
the HDI, and that the new methodology directly addresses the critique by Wolff et al. in that it generates a system for
continuously updating the human-development categories whenever formula or data revisions take place.

In 2013, Salvatore Monni and Alessandro Spaventa emphasized that in the debate of GDP versus HDI, it is often
forgotten that these are both external indicators that prioritize different benchmarks upon which the quantification of
societal welfare can be predicated. The larger question is whether it is possible to shift the focus of policy from a battle
between competing paradigms to a mechanism for eliciting information on well-being directly from the population.[32]

See also

Indices
Bhutan GNH Index Human Poverty Index
Broad measures of economic progress Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index
Gross domestic product (IHDI)
Green national product Legatum Prosperity Index
Green gross domestic product (Green GDP) List of countries by Human Development Index
Gender Inequality Index Living planet index
Gender-related Development Index Multidimensional Poverty Index
Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) Rule of Law Index
Global Peace Index (GPI) OECD Better Life Index (BLI)
Gross National Well-being (GNW) Social Progress Index
Happy Planet Index (HPI) Where-to-be-born Index
Health Adjusted Human Development Index World Happiness Report
(HAHDI)[33]

Other
Economic development International development
Ethics of care List of countries by percentage of population
Developing country living in poverty
Happiness economics Right to an adequate standard of living
Human Development and Capability Association Subjective life satisfaction
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10. Mean years of schooling (of adults) (years) is a calculation of the average number of years of education
received by people ages 25 and older in their lifetime based on education attainment levels of the
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11. (ESYI is a calculation of the number of years a child is expected to attend school, or university, including
the years spent on repetition. It is the sum of the age-specific enrollment ratios for primary, secondary,
post-secondary non-tertiary and tertiary education and is calculated assuming the prevailing patterns of
age-specific enrollment rates were to stay the same throughout the child's life. Expected years of
schooling is capped at 18 years. (Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2010). Correspondence on
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12. Definition, Calculator, etc. at UNDP site (http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/faq/question,68,en.html)
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27135240/http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2016_human_development_report.pdf) (PDF) from the
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lt/files/2016_human_development_report.pdf) (PDF). HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United
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015_statistical_annex.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
20. The UN does not calculate the HDI of Macau. The government of Macau calculates its own HDI.Macau in
Figures, 2015 (http://www.dsec.gov.mo/getAttachment/0d4efddf-7ad1-400c-ae84-7137d9c9df9f/E_MN_P
UB_2015_Y.aspx) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20150923220838/http://www.dsec.gov.mo/getAt
tachment/0d4efddf-7ad1-400c-ae84-7137d9c9df9f/E_MN_PUB_2015_Y.aspx) 23 September 2015 at the
Wayback Machine
21. Taiwan's government calculated its HDI to be 0.882, based on 2010 new methodology of UNDP. "2011中
華民國人類發展指數 (HDI)" (http://www.dgbas.gov.tw/public/Data/491716362790WG0X9I.pdf) (PDF) (in
Chinese). Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. 2011.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20141020210541/http://www.dgbas.gov.tw/public/Data/491716362
790WG0X9I.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
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Resilience' " (http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr_2015_statistical_annex.pdf) (PDF). HDRO (Human
Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. Archived (https://web.archive.org/
web/20160319110553/http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr_2015_statistical_annex.pdf) (PDF) from
the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
23. The UN does not calculate the HDI of Macau. The government of Macau calculates its own HDI. Macau
in Figures, 2016 (http://www.dsec.gov.mo/getAttachment/3fcdb33a-9238-44ca-8e4b-ebdb9c868e8e/E_M
N_PUB_2016_Y.aspx) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20161011202314/http://www.dsec.gov.mo/g
etAttachment/3fcdb33a-9238-44ca-8e4b-ebdb9c868e8e/E_MN_PUB_2016_Y.aspx) 11 October 2016 at
the Wayback Machine
24. The UN does not recognize the Republic of China (Taiwan) as a sovereign state. The HDI report does not
include Taiwan as part of the People's Republic of China when calculating China's figures. Taiwan's
government calculated its HDI to be 0.882, based on 2010 new methodology of UNDP. "2011中華民國人
類發展指數 (HDI)" (http://www.dgbas.gov.tw/public/Data/491716362790WG0X9I.pdf) (PDF) (in Chinese).
Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. 2011. Archived (https://
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(PDF) from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
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(https://web.archive.org/web/20151018115808/http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr14-report-en-1.pd
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27. Hastings, David A. (2009). "Filling Gaps in the Human Development Index" (http://www.unescap.org/publi
cations/detail.asp?id=1308). United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific,
Working Paper WP/09/02. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110430104401/http://www.unescap.o
rg/publications/detail.asp?id=1308) from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
28. Hastings, David A. (2011). "A "Classic" Human Development Index with 232 Countries" (http://www.huma
nsecurityindex.org/?page_id=204). HumanSecurityIndex.org. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2011
0503210307/http://www.humansecurityindex.org/?page_id=204) from the original on 3 May 2011.
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29. Wolff, Hendrik; Chong, Howard; Auffhammer, Maximilian (2011). "Classification, Detection and
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nell.edu/articles/338). Economic Journal. 121 (553): 843–870. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2010.02408.x (htt
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30. "UNDP Human Development Report Office's comments" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110211083547/h
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33. Jha RP, Bhattacharyya K, Mishra D et al. Health adjusted human development index: a modified measure
of human development. Int J Health Sci Res. 2017; 7(9):207-220.

External links
Human Development Index (http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi)
Human Development Tools and Rankings (http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/)
"Technical note explaining the definition of the HDI" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080216013844/http://
hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr_20072008_tech_note_1.pdf) (PDF). (5.54 MB)
New demographic datasets by 'Human Development Index (HDI)’ (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/prod
ucts-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20170306-1?inheritRedirect=true&redirect=%2Feurostat%2Fhome)
An independent HDI (http://www.humansecurityindex.org/?page_id=204) covering 232 countries,
formulated along the lines of the traditional (pre-2010) approach.

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