Wikimedia list article
World map representing
Human Development Index categories (based on 2018 data, published in 2019).
0.800–1.000 (very high) 0.700–0.799 (high) 0.550–0.699 (medium) | 0.350–0.549 (low) Data unavailable |
World map of countries by
Human Development Index categories in increments of 0.050 (based on 2018 data, published in 2019).
≥ 0.900 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 |
This is a full list of countries by the Human Development Index as included in a United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report. The latest report was released on 9 December 2019 and is based on data collected in 2018.[1]
In the 2010 Human Development Report, a further Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) was introduced. It stated that while the HDI remains useful, "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)".[2] 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 advanced countries, such as the G7 members and others.[3]
Methodology
Change in score on the
Human Development Index from 2017 to 2018 (based on 2017 and 2018 data, published in 2019).
+ .010 + .007 + .006 + .005 + .004 + .003 + .002 + .001 | No change No data | - .001 - .002 + .001 |
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income per capita indicators. A country scores higher HDI when the life expectancy at birth is longer, the education period is longer, and the income per capita is higher. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing or an underdeveloped country. The index was developed in 1990 by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq[4][5] and Indian economist Amartya Sen.
The UN report covers 187 member states of the United Nations (out of 193), along with Hong Kong and Palestine; 7 UN member states are not included because of lack of data. The average HDI of regions of the world and groups of countries are also included for comparison.
Countries fall into four broad human development categories: Very High Human Development, High Human Development, Medium Human Development and Low Human Development.
Because of the new methodology adopted since the 2010 Human Development Report, the new reported HDI figures appear lower than the HDI figures in previous reports.
From 2007 to 2010, the first category was referred to as developed countries, and the last three are all grouped in developing countries. The original "high human development" category has been split into two as above in the report for 2007.
Some older groupings (high/medium/low income countries) that were based on the gross domestic product (GDP) in purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita have been replaced by another index based on the gross national income (GNI) in purchasing power parity per capita.
Frequency of issuing the index
The index was first published in 1990 along with the Human Development Report. Since then, each year the index has been updated except for the years 2012 and 2017, where no Human Development Report was issued. The indices for 2012 and 2017 were still both published in the following Human Development Report.
The latest index—covering 189 countries—was launched on 9 December 2019.[1]
Complete list of countries
= increase.
= steady.
= decrease.
Very high human development
High human development
Medium human development
Low human development
List of countries by continent
Africa
10 highest HDIs
|
10 lowest HDIs
|
Asia
10 highest HDIs
|
10 lowest HDIs
|
Europe
10 highest HDIs
|
10 lowest HDIs
|
North America and the Caribbean
10 highest HDIs
|
10 lowest HDIs
|
Oceania
South America
List of countries by intercontinental region
10 highest HDIs
|
10 lowest HDIs
|
10 highest HDIs
|
10 lowest HDIs
|
10 highest HDIs
|
10 lowest HDIs
|
10 highest HDIs
|
10 lowest HDIs
|
10 highest HDIs
|
10 lowest HDIs
|
10 highest HDIs
|
10 lowest HDIs
|
10 highest HDIs
|
10 lowest HDIs
|
HDI by regions and groups
Region or group
|
1990 data rankings [1]
|
2000 data rankings [1]
|
2010 data rankings [1]
|
2013 data rankings [1]
|
2015 data rankings [1]
|
2016 data rankings [1]
|
2017 data rankings [1]
|
2018 data rankings [1]
|
Very high human development
|
OECD |
0.785 |
0.834 |
0.873 |
0.883 |
0.889 |
0.892 |
0.894 |
0.895
|
Very high human development |
0.779 |
0.823 |
0.866 |
0.878 |
0.886 |
0.888 |
0.890 |
0.892
|
High human development
|
Europe and Central Asia |
0.652 |
0.667 |
0.735 |
0.759 |
0.770 |
0.772 |
0.776 |
0.779
|
Latin America and the Caribbean |
0.628 |
0.687 |
0.731 |
0.748 |
0.754 |
0.756 |
0.758 |
0.759
|
High human development |
0.568 |
0.630 |
0.706 |
0.727 |
0.738 |
0.743 |
0.746 |
0.750
|
East Asia and the Pacific |
0.519 |
0.597 |
0.697 |
0.714 |
0.727 |
0.733 |
0.737 |
0.741
|
World |
0.598 |
0.641 |
0.697 |
0.713 |
0.722 |
0.727 |
0.729 |
0.731
|
Small Island Developing States |
0.595 |
0.642 |
0.702 |
0.708 |
0.717 |
0.719 |
0.722 |
0.723
|
Arab states |
0.556 |
0.613 |
0.676 |
0.688 |
0.695 |
0.699 |
0.701 |
0.703
|
Medium human development
|
Developing countries |
0.516 |
0.571 |
0.642 |
0.663 |
0.674 |
0.680 |
0.683 |
0.686
|
South Asia |
0.441 |
0.505 |
0.585 |
0.607 |
0.624 |
0.634 |
0.639 |
0.642
|
Medium human development |
0.436 |
0.497 |
0.575 |
0.599 |
0.616 |
0.625 |
0.630 |
0.634
|
Low human development
|
Sub-Saharan Africa |
0.402 |
0.423 |
0.498 |
0.521 |
0.532 |
0.535 |
0.539 |
0.541
|
Least developed countries |
0.350 |
0.399 |
0.485 |
0.504 |
0.516 |
0.520 |
0.525 |
0.528
|
Low human development |
0.352 |
0.386 |
0.473 |
0.490 |
0.499 |
0.501 |
0.505 |
0.507
|
|
Countries missing from latest report
Note: The 2009 publication uses an older version of the HDI formula and classification standard. The ranges are 0–0.499 for low HDI, 0.500–0.799 for medium HDI, 0.800–0.899 for high HDI and greater than 0.900 for very high HDI.[6]
UN member states (not calculated by the UNDP)
Non-UN member states (latest UNDP data)
Year
|
Country or territory
|
HDI
|
Source
|
Publication
|
Data
|
High human development
|
N/A |
2016 |
Kosovo |
0.739 |
[9]
|
|
Non-UN members (not calculated by the UNDP)
|