Human Development Index
The UN Human Development Index (HDI) combines life expectancy, schooling and income into a single score from 0 to 1. In 2023, the latest data year in UNDP's Human Development Report 2025, the world reached a record HDI of 0.756 after the COVID-19 pandemic caused the first global decline in the index's history. Iceland ranks first at 0.972 and South Sudan last at 0.388, and the gap between the most and least developed countries has stopped closing.
Key Human Development Insights
Nordic and European Countries Lead
Iceland (0.972), Norway and Switzerland (both 0.970), Denmark (0.962) and Germany and Sweden (both 0.959) top the 2023 rankings. Of the 193 countries and territories ranked, 74 are classed as very high human development, 50 high, 43 medium and 26 low. Nine of the ten lowest-ranked countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, with Yemen the exception.
Three Decades of Progress
World HDI rose from 0.608 in 1990 to 0.756 in 2023. Global life expectancy increased from 65.1 to 73.4 years, mean years of adult schooling from 5.9 to 8.8, and GNI per capita from about $11,300 to $20,300 (2021 PPP). East Asia and the Pacific saw the biggest gain, rising from 0.514 to 0.775.
COVID-19 Caused a Historic Stall
In HDR 2025 data, 128 of 192 countries saw their HDI fall in 2020, and 148 declined in 2020, 2021 or both. World HDI slipped from 0.745 to 0.742 and stayed there in 2021. Most countries have since recovered, but 26 were still below their 2019 level in 2023, including Lebanon, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Myanmar.
Inequality Erodes Development
Once inequality in health, education and income is taken into account, world HDI drops from 0.756 to an inequality-adjusted 0.590, a loss of 22%. Losses exceed 40% in Somalia, South Sudan, Angola and Comoros, while the most equal countries, such as Slovenia, Iceland and Czechia, lose only about 5%.
Highest and Lowest HDI Countries (2023)
HDI value, 0–1 scale; top 10 (blue) and bottom 10 (red) of 193 countries and territories
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| HDI value (2023) | |
|---|---|
| Iceland | 0.972 |
| Norway | 0.97 |
| Switzerland | 0.97 |
| Denmark | 0.962 |
| Germany | 0.959 |
| Sweden | 0.959 |
| Australia | 0.958 |
| Hong Kong, China (SAR) | 0.955 |
| Netherlands | 0.955 |
| Belgium | 0.951 |
| Yemen | 0.47 |
| Sierra Leone | 0.467 |
| Burkina Faso | 0.459 |
| Burundi | 0.439 |
| Mali | 0.419 |
| Niger | 0.419 |
| Chad | 0.416 |
| Central African Republic | 0.414 |
| Somalia | 0.404 |
| South Sudan | 0.388 |
Key Finding: Iceland ranks first with an HDI of 0.972, followed by Norway and Switzerland (0.970). South Sudan is last at 0.388 — a gap of almost 0.6 points. Nine of the bottom ten are in sub-Saharan Africa.
HDI by Region, 1990–2023
HDI value for UNDP developing regions and the world; selected years
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| Europe & Central Asia | Latin America & Caribbean | East Asia & Pacific | Arab States | South Asia | Sub-Saharan Africa | World | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.674 | 0.648 | 0.514 | 0.55 | 0.454 | 0.405 | 0.608 |
| 2000 | 0.686 | 0.697 | 0.604 | 0.615 | 0.508 | 0.435 | 0.651 |
| 2010 | 0.753 | 0.747 | 0.699 | 0.67 | 0.59 | 0.51 | 0.707 |
| 2015 | 0.789 | 0.767 | 0.735 | 0.693 | 0.627 | 0.54 | 0.731 |
| 2019 | 0.808 | 0.776 | 0.761 | 0.712 | 0.645 | 0.557 | 0.745 |
| 2020 | 0.802 | 0.764 | 0.764 | 0.707 | 0.645 | 0.557 | 0.742 |
| 2021 | 0.803 | 0.762 | 0.768 | 0.71 | 0.641 | 0.558 | 0.742 |
| 2022 | 0.815 | 0.778 | 0.773 | 0.716 | 0.665 | 0.565 | 0.752 |
| 2023 | 0.818 | 0.783 | 0.775 | 0.719 | 0.672 | 0.568 | 0.756 |
Key Finding: East Asia and the Pacific made the largest gain, from 0.514 in 1990 to 0.775 in 2023, overtaking the world average. Sub-Saharan Africa rose from 0.405 to 0.568 but remains the lowest-scoring region.
The COVID-19 Setback: HDI by Development Group, 2015–2023
HDI value by UNDP human development group (2023 classification)
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| Very high HDI | High HDI | World | Medium HDI | Low HDI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 0.898 | 0.744 | 0.731 | 0.611 | 0.491 |
| 2019 | 0.909 | 0.765 | 0.745 | 0.631 | 0.507 |
| 2020 | 0.901 | 0.763 | 0.742 | 0.631 | 0.507 |
| 2021 | 0.903 | 0.766 | 0.742 | 0.629 | 0.507 |
| 2022 | 0.908 | 0.774 | 0.752 | 0.649 | 0.512 |
| 2023 | 0.914 | 0.777 | 0.756 | 0.656 | 0.515 |
Key Finding: World HDI fell from 0.745 in 2019 to 0.742 in 2020 and 2021 — the first decline since the series began in 1990 — before reaching a new high of 0.756 in 2023. Low HDI countries flatlined at 0.507 for three years and reached only 0.515 by 2023.
Health and Education Components of HDI (2023)
Life expectancy at birth, expected years of schooling and mean years of schooling, by HDI group
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| Life expectancy at birth (years) | Expected years of schooling | Mean years of schooling (adults 25+) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very high HDI | 80 | 16.4 | 12.5 |
| High HDI | 75.7 | 14.6 | 8.7 |
| Medium HDI | 69.3 | 12.1 | 6.8 |
| Low HDI | 65 | 8.9 | 4 |
| World | 73.4 | 13 | 8.8 |
Key Finding: A child born in a very high HDI country can expect to live 15 years longer (80.0 vs 65.0) and to spend about 7.4 more years in school (16.4 vs 8.9) than one born in a low HDI country. Adults in low HDI countries average just 4.0 years of schooling.
Income Component: GNI per Capita by HDI Group, 1990 vs 2023
Gross national income per capita, constant 2021 PPP dollars
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| 1990 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Very high HDI | 32,837 | 53,014 |
| High HDI | 5332 | 18,405 |
| Medium HDI | 2492 | 7822 |
| Low HDI | 2149 | 3007 |
| World | 11,274 | 20,327 |
Key Finding: GNI per capita in high HDI countries more than tripled since 1990 (from $5,332 to $18,405), while in low HDI countries it rose by only about 40% (from $2,149 to $3,007). Very high HDI countries average $53,014 — about 18 times the low HDI average.
HDI Lost to Inequality by Region (2023)
Percentage loss from HDI to inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI)
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| Loss in HDI due to inequality (%, 2023) | |
|---|---|
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 33.6 |
| South Asia | 30.2 |
| Arab States | 24.3 |
| World | 22 |
| Latin America & Caribbean | 20.9 |
| East Asia & Pacific | 16.3 |
| Europe & Central Asia | 12.1 |
| Very high HDI countries | 10.2 |
Key Finding: Inequality wipes out 22% of the world's human development: the global IHDI is 0.590 against an HDI of 0.756. The loss is a third in sub-Saharan Africa (33.6%) but only 10.2% in very high HDI countries.
Understanding the HDI
How the HDI is calculated
The Human Development Index, published by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) since 1990, summarises three dimensions: a long and healthy life (life expectancy at birth), knowledge (expected years of schooling for children and mean years of schooling for adults aged 25 and over) and a decent standard of living (GNI per capita in constant 2021 PPP dollars, on a log scale). Each dimension is turned into an index between 0 and 1, and the HDI is the geometric mean of the three.
Development groups
Countries are grouped by fixed cut-off points: very high (0.800 and above), high (0.700–0.799), medium (0.550–0.699) and low (below 0.550). Regional and group figures on this page are UNDP's population-weighted aggregates, and the groups use the 2023 classification throughout.
Inequality-adjusted HDI
The IHDI discounts each dimension by how unequally it is distributed across the population. When there is no inequality, IHDI equals HDI. The percentage difference between the two is the "loss due to inequality". The IHDI is available for fewer countries (169 in the 2023 data) because it needs household survey data.
Caveats
UNDP recalculates the whole 1990–2023 series with each report as source data and methods are updated, so values and ranks should not be compared across report editions. All figures here come from one dataset, the HDR 2025 time series. The HDI measures average achievement in a few capabilities; it does not capture poverty, safety, political freedom or environmental sustainability, which UNDP covers in other indices such as the MPI and the planetary-pressures-adjusted HDI.