Human Development Index: Indicators, Ranking, Benefits, Limitations

What’s it: Human Development Index (HDI) is an indicator that tells you the country’s social and economic development. It considers three dimensions, namely, health, education, and living standards.

Importance of the Human Development Index

Mahbub ul Haq designed and proposed the Human Development Index (HDI) in 1990. The aim is to promote economic development centered on the welfare of society.

Previously, we focused on national accounting, such as gross domestic product (GDP), to assess a country’s development. When the economy grows, we assume a country is moving towards improvement, regardless of whether it flows benefits to society or not. In short, we only focus on the economic aspect.

It is different from HDI. Through it, we have a better measure of a country’s development. It does cover not only the economic aspects but also the social aspects. Hence, we can use it to evaluate economic development as well as the welfare of society.

Human development matters. And, developing the economy should also mean building quality of life. When the quality of human resources improves, it ultimately contributes to sustainable economic growth.

Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index

Apart from the standard HDI, there is also an HDI that is adjusted to economic inequality measure. We call it the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI), a more precise HDI.

Experts view IHDI as the ideal measure of human development. IHDI is more actual because it shows you how human development achievements spread among the population. In contrast, the standard HDI is only a theoretical measure and assumes no inequality in a country.

Human Development Index components

The three dimensions for measuring human development are:

• Long and healthy life
• Education
• Standard of living

Long and healthy life

We measure it from indicators of life expectancy at birth. Life expectancy at birth measures how long a newborn can survive, assuming current mortality rates do not change.

Education

The education dimension represents the literacy and knowledge aspects of society. The two indicators are the expected years of schooling and the mean years of schooling. According to the United Nations (UN), the expected years of schooling is 18 years. Meanwhile, the maximum mean years of schooling is 15 years.

Standard of living

This dimension measures the country’s average income level, indicated by Gross National Income per capita (GNI per capita). For international comparisons, we adjust it for purchasing power parity.

Gross National Income shows you the income of citizens, regardless of where they earn it, whether at domestic or abroad. If you work in the domestic, your income is included in the calculation. Likewise, if your brother is currently working abroad, his income is also included in the calculation.

The following is complete data on the worldwide human development index in 2019:

Rank	Country	Human Development Index (HDI) (value)	Life expectancy at birth (years) SDG3	Expected years of schooling (years) SDG 4.3	Mean years of schooling (years) SDG 4.6	Gross national income (GNI) per capita (PPP $) SDG 8.5
1	Norway	0.954	82.300	18.100	12.600	68,059
2	Switzerland	0.946	83.600	16.200	13.400	59,375
3	Ireland	0.942	82.100	18.800	12.500	55,660
4	Germany	0.939	81.200	17.100	14.100	46,946
4	Hong Kong, China (SAR)	0.939	84.700	16.500	12.000	60,221
6	Australia	0.938	83.300	22.100	12.700	44,097
6	Iceland	0.938	82.900	19.200	12.500	47,566
8	Sweden	0.937	82.700	18.800	12.400	47,955
9	Singapore	0.935	83.500	16.300	11.500	83,793
10	Netherlands	0.933	82.100	18.000	12.200	50,013
11	Denmark	0.930	80.800	19.100	12.600	48,836
12	Finland	0.925	81.700	19.300	12.400	41,779
13	Canada	0.922	82.300	16.100	13.300	43,602
14	New Zealand	0.921	82.100	18.800	12.700	35,108
15	United Kingdom	0.920	81.200	17.400	13.000	39,507
15	United States	0.920	78.900	16.300	13.400	56,140
17	Belgium	0.919	81.500	19.700	11.800	43,821
18	Liechtenstein	0.917	80.500	14.700	12.500	99,732
19	Japan	0.915	84.500	15.200	12.800	40,799
20	Austria	0.914	81.400	16.300	12.600	46,231
21	Luxembourg	0.909	82.100	14.200	12.200	65,543
22	Israel	0.906	82.800	16.000	13.000	33,650
22	Korea (Republic of)	0.906	82.800	16.400	12.200	36,757
24	Slovenia	0.902	81.200	17.400	12.300	32,143
25	Spain	0.893	83.400	17.900	9.800	35,041
26	Czechia	0.891	79.200	16.800	12.700	31,597
26	France	0.891	82.500	15.500	11.400	40,511
28	Malta	0.885	82.400	15.900	11.300	34,795
29	Italy	0.883	83.400	16.200	10.200	36,141
30	Estonia	0.882	78.600	16.100	13.000	30,379
31	Cyprus	0.873	80.800	14.700	12.100	33,100
32	Greece	0.872	82.100	17.300	10.500	24,909
32	Poland	0.872	78.500	16.400	12.300	27,626
34	Lithuania	0.869	75.700	16.500	13.000	29,775
35	United Arab Emirates	0.866	77.800	13.600	11.000	66,912
36	Andorra	0.857	81.800	13.300	10.200	48,641
36	Saudi Arabia	0.857	75.000	17.000	9.700	49,338
36	Slovakia	0.857	77.400	14.500	12.600	30,672
39	Latvia	0.854	75.200	16.000	12.800	26,301
40	Portugal	0.850	81.900	16.300	9.200	27,935
41	Qatar	0.848	80.100	12.200	9.700	110,489
42	Chile	0.847	80.000	16.500	10.400	21,972
43	Brunei Darussalam	0.845	75.700	14.400	9.100	76,389
43	Hungary	0.845	76.700	15.100	11.900	27,144
45	Bahrain	0.838	77.200	15.300	9.400	40,399
46	Croatia	0.837	78.300	15.000	11.400	23,061
47	Oman	0.834	77.600	14.700	9.700	37,039
48	Argentina	0.830	76.500	17.600	10.600	17,611
49	Russian Federation	0.824	72.400	15.500	12.000	25,036
50	Belarus	0.817	74.600	15.400	12.300	17,039
50	Kazakhstan	0.817	73.200	15.300	11.800	22,168
52	Bulgaria	0.816	74.900	14.800	11.800	19,646
52	Montenegro	0.816	76.800	15.000	11.400	17,511
52	Romania	0.816	75.900	14.300	11.000	23,906
55	Palau	0.814	73.700	15.600	12.400	16,720
56	Barbados	0.813	79.100	15.200	10.600	15,912
57	Kuwait	0.808	75.400	13.800	7.300	71,164
57	Uruguay	0.808	77.800	16.300	8.700	19,435
59	Turkey	0.806	77.400	16.400	7.700	24,905
60	Bahamas	0.805	73.800	12.800	11.500	28,395
61	Malaysia	0.804	76.000	13.500	10.200	27,227
62	Seychelles	0.801	73.300	15.500	9.700	25,077
63	Serbia	0.799	75.800	14.800	11.200	15,218
63	Trinidad and Tobago	0.799	73.400	13.000	11.000	28,497
65	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	0.797	76.500	14.700	10.000	18,166
66	Mauritius	0.796	74.900	15.000	9.400	22,724
67	Panama	0.795	78.300	12.900	10.200	20,455
68	Costa Rica	0.794	80.100	15.400	8.700	14,790
69	Albania	0.791	78.500	15.200	10.100	12,300
70	Georgia	0.786	73.600	15.400	12.800	9,570
71	Sri Lanka	0.780	76.800	14.000	11.100	11,611
72	Cuba	0.778	78.700	14.400	11.800	7,811
73	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0.777	74.600	13.600	8.500	26,770
74	Antigua and Barbuda	0.776	76.900	12.500	9.300	22,201
75	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.769	77.300	13.800	9.700	12,690
76	Mexico	0.767	75.000	14.300	8.600	17,628
77	Thailand	0.765	76.900	14.700	7.700	16,129
78	Grenada	0.763	72.400	16.600	8.800	12,684
79	Brazil	0.761	75.700	15.400	7.800	14,068
79	Colombia	0.761	77.100	14.600	8.300	12,896
81	Armenia	0.760	74.900	13.200	11.800	9,277
82	Algeria	0.759	76.700	14.700	8.000	13,639
82	North Macedonia	0.759	75.700	13.500	9.700	12,874
82	Peru	0.759	76.500	13.800	9.200	12,323
85	China	0.758	76.700	13.900	7.900	16,127
85	Ecuador	0.758	76.800	14.900	9.000	10,141
87	Azerbaijan	0.754	72.900	12.400	10.500	15,240
88	Ukraine	0.750	72.000	15.100	11.300	7,994
89	Dominican Republic	0.745	73.900	14.100	7.900	15,074
89	Saint Lucia	0.745	76.100	13.900	8.500	11,528
91	Tunisia	0.739	76.500	15.100	7.200	10,677
92	Mongolia	0.735	69.700	14.200	10.200	10,784
93	Lebanon	0.730	78.900	11.300	8.700	11,136
94	Botswana	0.728	69.300	12.700	9.300	15,951
94	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0.728	72.400	13.600	8.600	11,746
96	Jamaica	0.726	74.400	13.100	9.800	7,932
96	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	0.726	72.100	12.800	10.300	9,070
98	Dominica	0.724	78.100	13.000	7.800	9,245
98	Fiji	0.724	67.300	14.400	10.900	9,110
98	Paraguay	0.724	74.100	12.700	8.500	11,720
98	Suriname	0.724	71.600	12.900	9.100	11,933
102	Jordan	0.723	74.400	11.900	10.500	8,268
103	Belize	0.720	74.500	13.100	9.800	7,136
104	Maldives	0.719	78.600	12.100	6.800	12,549
105	Tonga	0.717	70.800	14.300	11.200	5,783
106	Philippines	0.712	71.100	12.700	9.400	9,540
107	Moldova (Republic of)	0.711	71.800	11.600	11.600	6,833
108	Turkmenistan	0.710	68.100	10.900	9.800	16,407
108	Uzbekistan	0.710	71.600	12.000	11.500	6,462
110	Libya	0.708	72.700	12.800	7.600	11,685
111	Indonesia	0.707	71.500	12.900	8.000	11,256
111	Samoa	0.707	73.200	12.500	10.600	5,885
113	South Africa	0.705	63.900	13.700	10.200	11,756
114	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	0.703	71.200	14.000	9.000	6,849
115	Gabon	0.702	66.200	12.900	8.300	15,794
116	Egypt	0.700	71.800	13.100	7.300	10,744
117	Marshall Islands	0.698	73.900	12.400	10.900	4,633
118	Viet Nam	0.693	75.300	12.700	8.200	6,220
119	Palestine, State of	0.690	73.900	12.800	9.100	5,314
120	Iraq	0.689	70.500	11.100	7.300	15,365
121	Morocco	0.676	76.500	13.100	5.500	7,480
122	Kyrgyzstan	0.674	71.300	13.400	10.900	3,317
123	Guyana	0.670	69.800	11.500	8.500	7,615
124	El Salvador	0.667	73.100	12.000	6.900	6,973
125	Tajikistan	0.656	70.900	11.400	10.700	3,482
126	Cabo Verde	0.651	72.800	11.900	6.200	6,513
126	Guatemala	0.651	74.100	10.600	6.500	7,378
126	Nicaragua	0.651	74.300	12.200	6.800	4,790
129	India	0.647	69.400	12.300	6.500	6,829
130	Namibia	0.645	63.400	12.600	6.900	9,683
131	Timor-Leste	0.626	69.300	12.400	4.500	7,527
132	Honduras	0.623	75.100	10.200	6.600	4,258
132	Kiribati	0.623	68.100	11.800	7.900	3,917
134	Bhutan	0.617	71.500	12.100	3.100	8,609
135	Bangladesh	0.614	72.300	11.200	6.100	4,057
135	Micronesia (Federated States of)	0.614	67.800	11.500	7.700	3,700
137	Sao Tome and Principe	0.609	70.200	12.700	6.400	3,024
138	Congo	0.608	64.300	11.600	6.500	5,804
138	Eswatini (Kingdom of)	0.608	59.400	11.400	6.700	9,359
140	Lao People’s Democratic Republic	0.604	67.600	11.100	5.200	6,317
141	Vanuatu	0.597	70.300	11.400	6.800	2,808
142	Ghana	0.596	63.800	11.500	7.200	4,099
143	Zambia	0.591	63.500	12.100	7.100	3,582
144	Equatorial Guinea	0.588	58.400	9.200	5.600	17,796
145	Myanmar	0.584	66.900	10.300	5.000	5,764
146	Cambodia	0.581	69.600	11.300	4.800	3,597
147	Kenya	0.579	66.300	11.100	6.600	3,052
147	Nepal	0.579	70.500	12.200	4.900	2,748
149	Angola	0.574	60.800	11.800	5.100	5,555
150	Cameroon	0.563	58.900	12.700	6.300	3,291
150	Zimbabwe	0.563	61.200	10.500	8.300	2,661
152	Pakistan	0.560	67.100	8.500	5.200	5,190
153	Solomon Islands	0.557	72.800	10.200	5.500	2,027
154	Syrian Arab Republic	0.549	71.800	8.900	5.100	2,725
155	Papua New Guinea	0.543	64.300	10.000	4.600	3,686
156	Comoros	0.538	64.100	11.200	4.900	2,426
157	Rwanda	0.536	68.700	11.200	4.400	1,959
158	Nigeria	0.534	54.300	9.700	6.500	5,086
159	Tanzania (United Republic of)	0.528	65.000	8.000	6.000	2,805
159	Uganda	0.528	63.000	11.200	6.100	1,752
161	Mauritania	0.527	64.700	8.500	4.600	3,746
162	Madagascar	0.521	66.700	10.400	6.100	1,404
163	Benin	0.520	61.500	12.600	3.800	2,135
164	Lesotho	0.518	53.700	10.700	6.300	3,244
165	Côte d’Ivoire	0.516	57.400	9.600	5.200	3,589
166	Senegal	0.514	67.700	9.000	3.100	3,256
167	Togo	0.513	60.800	12.600	4.900	1,593
168	Sudan	0.507	65.100	7.700	3.700	3,962
169	Haiti	0.503	63.700	9.500	5.400	1,665
170	Afghanistan	0.496	64.500	10.100	3.900	1,746
171	Djibouti	0.495	66.600	6.500	4.000	3,601
172	Malawi	0.485	63.800	11.000	4.600	1,159
173	Ethiopia	0.470	66.200	8.700	2.800	1,782
174	Gambia	0.466	61.700	9.500	3.700	1,490
174	Guinea	0.466	61.200	9.000	2.700	2,211
176	Liberia	0.465	63.700	9.600	4.700	1,040
177	Yemen	0.463	66.100	8.700	3.200	1,433
178	Guinea-Bissau	0.461	58.000	10.500	3.300	1,593
179	Congo (Democratic Republic of the)	0.459	60.400	9.700	6.800	800
180	Mozambique	0.446	60.200	9.700	3.500	1,154
181	Sierra Leone	0.438	54.300	10.200	3.600	1,381
182	Burkina Faso	0.434	61.200	8.900	1.600	1,705
182	Eritrea	0.434	65.900	5.000	3.900	1,708
184	Mali	0.427	58.900	7.600	2.400	1,965
185	Burundi	0.423	61.200	11.300	3.100	660
186	South Sudan	0.413	57.600	5.000	4.800	1,455
187	Chad	0.401	54.000	7.500	2.400	1,716
188	Central African Republic	0.381	52.800	7.600	4.300	777
189	Niger	0.377	62.000	6.500	2.000	912

Benefits and limitations of the Human Development Index

The two key benefits of the Human Development Index are.

First, the index provides a broader measure of development progress. It captures the economic and social aspects of society. The index also provides an additional matrix to measure development, besides economic growth, gross domestic product (GDP), employment, and poverty rate.

Second, some countries use it for government budget allocations, such as for health and education programs. The index plays a strategic role in evaluating policies and measuring government performance related to many social programs.

However, the HDI also contains limitations. It only captures some aspects of human development. It does not reflect empowerment, people’s feelings of security, gender inequality, or racial inequality. Likewise, it does not consider technological development as a measure of development.

What to read next

• Economic Development: Meaning, Goals, and Stages
• Economic Growth: Factors, Importance, Impacts, How to Measure It
• Income Distribution: How to Measure and Overcome Inequality
• Human Development Index: Indicators, Ranking, Benefits, Limitations
• Gini Coefficient: Meaning, Calculation Method, Data, Pros, and Cons
• Economic Growth and Economic Development: Their Differences and Relationships