List of Philippine provinces and regions by Human Development Index

Last updated January 23, 2024

This is a list of regions and provinces of the Philippines by Human Development Index (HDI) as of 2019.^[1] The HDI is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, which is used to rank countries into four tiers of human development.

Regions

The HDI values below are based on the preliminary estimates of the 2019 Provincial Human Development Index by the Philippine Statistics Authority,^[2] as well as the Global Data Lab estimates published by the Radboud University Nijmegen Center for Economics.^[1]

Rank	Region	2023 HDI (PSA)^[2]	Category (PSA)	2021 HDI (GDL)^[1]	Category (GDL)
1	Metro Manila	0.851	High	0.760	High
2	Calabarzon	0.795	High	0.724	High
3	Cordillera Administrative Region	0.777	High	0.723	High
4	Central Luzon	0.765	High	0.713	High
5	Western Visayas	0.761	High	0.710	High
6	Ilocos Region	0.743	High	0.706	High
–	Philippines (average)	0.718	High	0.699	Medium
7	Cagayan Valley	0.709	High	0.686	Medium
8	Central Visayas	0.704	High		Medium

9	Caraga	0.698	Medium	Medium
10	Davao Region	0.697	Medium	0.684	Medium
11	Eastern Visayas	0.697	Medium	0.681	Medium
12	Northern Mindanao	0.694	Medium	0.681	Medium
13	Bicol Region	0.687	Medium	0.673	Medium
14	Soccsksargen	0.685	Medium	0.651	Medium
15	Mimaropa	0.673	Medium	0.670	Medium
16	Zamboanga Peninsula	0.665	Medium	0.668	Medium
17	Bangsamoro	0.646	Medium	0.583	Medium

Highs and lows

All provinces surrounding Metro Manila have a high HDI value. Metro Manila, Benguet, Iloilo and Rizal already have very high HDI values (≥0.800). The southern region of Mindanao has three of the provinces with the lowest (low) HDI values (<0.550).^[3]

Provinces

The HDI values below are based on the preliminary estimates of the 2019 Provincial Human Development Index by the Philippine Statistics Authority.^[2]

Rank^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Province	HDI (2019)^[2]
1	Benguet	0.88	Very high human development
2	Metro Manila ^{[lower-alpha 2]}	0.85	Very high human development
3T	Ilocos Norte	0.82	Very high human development
3T	Rizal	0.82	Very high human development
5	Iloilo	0.80	Very high human development
6	Batanes	0.79	High human development
7	Cavite	0.78	High human development
8	Laguna	0.77	High human development
9T	La Union	0.76	High human development
9T	Bulacan	0.76	High human development
9T	Pampanga	0.76	High human development
12	Bataan	0.75	High human development
13T	Batangas	0.74	High human development
13T	Cebu	0.74	High human development
15	Siquijor	0.73	High human development
16	Tarlac	0.72	High human development
–	Philippines (average)	0.718	High human development
17T	Negros Occidental	0.71	High human development
17T	Misamis Oriental	0.71	High human development
19T	Ilocos Sur	0.70	High human development
19T	Davao del Sur	0.70	High human development
21T	Guimaras	0.69	Medium human development
21T	Nueva Vizcaya	0.69	Medium human development
21T	Zambales	0.69	Medium human development
24T	Cagayan	0.68	Medium human development
24T	Quezon	0.68	Medium human development
26T	Marinduque	0.67	Medium human development
26T	Nueva Ecija	0.67	Medium human development
26T	South Cotabato	0.67	Medium human development
29T	Palawan	0.66	Medium human development
29T	Bohol	0.66	Medium human development
29T	Aklan	0.66	Medium human development
32T	Capiz	0.65	Medium human development
32T	Leyte	0.65	Medium human development
32T	Pangasinan	0.65	Medium human development
35T	Isabela	0.64	Medium human development
35T	Antique	0.64	Medium human development
35T	Zamboanga del Norte	0.64	Medium human development
35T	Zamboanga del Sur	0.64	Medium human development
39T	Aurora	0.63	Medium human development
39T	Biliran	0.63	Medium human development
39T	Lanao del Norte	0.63	Medium human development
39T	Quirino	0.63	Medium human development
43T	Oriental Mindoro	0.62	Medium human development
43T	Agusan del Norte	0.62	Medium human development
45T	Abra	0.61	Medium human development
45T	Kalinga	0.61	Medium human development
45T	Occidental Mindoro	0.61	Medium human development
45T	Southern Leyte	0.61	Medium human development
49T	Misamis Occidental	0.60	Medium human development
49T	Surigao del Sur	0.60	Medium human development
49T	Albay	0.60	Medium human development
49T	Camarines Sur	0.60	Medium human development
49T	Camiguin	0.60	Medium human development
49T	Davao del Norte	0.60	Medium human development
55T	Camarines Norte	0.59	Medium human development
55T	Catanduanes	0.59	Medium human development
55T	Ifugao	0.59	Medium human development
55T	Negros Oriental	0.59	Medium human development
55T	Zamboanga Sibugay	0.59	Medium human development
60T	Davao de Oro	0.58	Medium human development
60T	Romblon	0.58	Medium human development
60T	Sorsogon	0.58	Medium human development
63T	Surigao del Norte	0.57	Medium human development
63T	Mountain Province	0.57	Medium human development
63T	Cotabato	0.57	Medium human development
63T	Agusan del Sur	0.57	Medium human development
63T	Tawi-Tawi	0.57	Medium human development
63T	Northern Samar	0.57	Medium human development
63T	Sarangani	0.57	Medium human development
63T	Basilan	0.57	Medium human development
71T	Davao Oriental	0.56	Medium human development
71T	Sultan Kudarat	0.56	Medium human development
71T	Western Samar	0.56	Medium human development
71T	Bukidnon	0.56	Medium human development
71T	Masbate	0.56	Medium human development
76T	Eastern Samar	0.55	Medium human development
76T	Apayao	0.55	Medium human development
76T	Davao Occidental	0.55	Medium human development
79T	Sulu	0.54	Low human development
79T	Maguindanao	0.54	Low human development
81	Lanao del Sur	0.53	Low human development
Notes ↑ T indicates tie ↑ Metro Manila is an administrative region, but is included in the table to complete the data.

Related Research Articles

The economy of the Philippines is an emerging market, and considered as a newly industrialized country in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2023, the Philippine economy is estimated to be at ₱24.27 trillion, making it the world's 34th largest by nominal GDP and 14th largest in Asia according to the International Monetary Fund.

Metropolitan Manila, formally the National Capital Region and commonly called Metro Manila, is the capital region and largest metropolitan area of the Philippines. The region is located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay, between the Central Luzon and Calabarzon regions. It consists of 16 highly urbanized cities: the City of Manila, Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, San Juan, Taguig, and Valenzuela, and one municipality: Pateros. The region encompasses an area of 619.57 square kilometers (239.22 sq mi) and a population of 13,484,462 as of 2020. It is the second most populous and the most densely populated region in the Philippines. It is also the 9th most populous metropolitan area in Asia and the 6th most populous urban area in the world.

Cagayan Valley, designated as Region II, is an administrative region in the Philippines. Located in the northeastern section of Luzon, it is composed of five Philippine provinces: Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino. The region hosts four chartered cities: Cauayan, Ilagan, Santiago, and Tuguegarao.

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which is used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. A country scores a higher level of 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 Development Programme (UNDP)'s Human Development Report Office.

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References

1 2 3 "Sub-national HDI - Subnational HDI - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org.
1 2 3 4 "Gender and Special Population Groups; Provincial Human Development Index". Philippine Statistics Authority. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
↑ "Gender and Special Population Groups; Provincial Human Development Index". Philippine Statistics Authority. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.

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[4] T indicates tie

[5] Metro Manila is an administrative region, but is included in the table to complete the data.

[:0-1] 1 2 3 "Sub-national HDI - Subnational HDI - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org.

[2012_Philippine_Provincial_HDI-2] 1 2 3 4 "Gender and Special Population Groups; Provincial Human Development Index". Philippine Statistics Authority. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.

[2012_Philippine_Provincial_HDI2-3] "Gender and Special Population Groups; Provincial Human Development Index". Philippine Statistics Authority. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.

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