List of administrative divisions of Greater China by Human Development Index

This is a list of the first-level administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China (PRC), including all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, and special administrative regions in order of their Human Development Index (HDI), along with the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan). The subnational and national average figures for the PRC/ROC division are mainly derived from the Subnational Human Development Index (SHDI), published by the Global Data Lab at Radboud University. The index does not cover Macau, a special administrative region of the PRC. Only divisions of Mainland China are given ranking numbers in the list as the national HDI for China, which is calculated by the annual UNDP Human Development Report, is exclusively applied to the mainland.

List of administrative divisions by HDI

Administrative divisions of mainland China and Taiwan by Human Development Index (2023).

  Very high (≥ 0.800)

  High (0.700 – 0.799)

  Medium (0.600 – 0.699)

The Subnational Human Development Database (2023 data)

Rank	Provincial-level division / National average	HDI (2023) [1]
Very high human development
–	Hong Kong [a]	0.955 [2]
–	Republic of China (Taiwan) [b]	0.934 [c]
–	Macau [a]	0.934 [d]
1	Beijing	0.912
2	Shanghai	0.901
3	Tianjin	0.867
4	Jiangsu	0.836
5	Zhejiang	0.823
	Guangdong
7	Fujian	0.812
8	Inner Mongolia	0.807
9	Chongqing	0.804
10	Liaoning	0.803
	Hubei
12	Shaanxi	0.802
13	Shanxi	0.800
High human development
14	Shandong	0.798
–	People's Republic of China (Average) [e]	0.797
15	Hainan	0.790
	Hunan
17	Jilin	0.787
18	Heilongjiang	0.778
19	Jiangxi	0.777
20	Anhui	0.776
21	Ningxia	0.773
22	Xinjiang	0.771
	Sichuan
	Hebei
25	Henan	0.769
26	Guangxi	0.760
27	Yunnan	0.737
28	Guizhou	0.734
29	Gansu	0.731
30	Qinghai	0.727
Medium human development
31	Tibet	0.656

Notes:

1. Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China.
2. Taiwan is under separate rule by the Republic of China as a de facto independent state since 1950, but is claimed by the People's Republic of China as a province. The ROC also claims the mainland as its constitutional-defined territory. ^[3]
3. The HDI annual report compiled by the UNDP does not include Taiwan because it is no longer a UN member state, and is neither included as part of the People's Republic of China by both of the UNDP and SHDI reports when calculating data for China. ^{[4] [1]} Taiwan's Statistical Bureau calculated its HDI for 2023 to be 0.934 based on UNDP's 2014 methodology, which would place Taiwan at 21st globally in 2023 within the 2025 UNDP report. ^[5]
4. Macao's HDI is not included in the SHDI database or any UNDP annual report. According to the 2025 annual report published by the Statistics and Census Service of the Government of Macao Special Administrative Region, the HDI for Macau was predicted at 0.934 in 2023. ^[6]
5. Figures refer to mainland China only. ^[7]

Trend

Legend
Very High human development   0.900 and above   0.850–0.899   0.800–0.849	High human development   0.750–0.799   0.700–0.749	Medium human development   0.650–0.699   0.600–0.649   0.550–0.599	Data unavailable

• 2010-2014 HDI
• 
  2014 data
• 
  2010 data

Legend
Very High human development   0.900–0.949	High human development   0.850–0.899   0.800–0.849	Medium human development   0.750–0.799   0.700–0.749   0.650–0.699   0.600–0.649   0.550–0.599   0.500–0.549	Low human development   0.450–0.499   0.400–0.449   0.350–0.399	Data unavailable

• 1982-2008 HDI
• 
  2008 data
• 
  2005 data
• 
  2003 data
• 
  1999 data
• 
  1997 data
• 
  1995 data
• 
  1990 data
• 
  1982 data

See also

• China portal
• Taiwan portal
• Hong Kong portal

• List of countries by Human Development Index

References

1. "Human Development Indices (9.0)- China". Global Data Lab. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
2. "Human Development Reports - Hong Kong". United Nations. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
3. "Taiwan Country Profile". World Affairs Journal. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
4. "Human Development Report 2020: Reader's Guide". United Nation Development Program. 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
5. "Human Development Index, HDI". National Statistics Republic of China (Taiwan). Retrieved 22 November 2025.
6. "Macao in Figures". Government of Macao Special Administrative Region Statistics and Census Service. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
7. "Human Development Report 2023-24: Reader's Guide" (PDF). United Nation Development Program. 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2024.

External links

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in China
  • Publications