The following list shows the subnational entities and regions with the highest and lowest Human Development Index (HDI) in the world and on different continents. The HDI is a summary measure of human development that considers three dimensions: health, education, and standard of living. It is calculated by taking the geometric mean of three normalized indicators: life expectancy at birth, mean and expected years of schooling, and gross national income per capita. The HDI ranges from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating higher human development. The HDI itself was created by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq in 1990, and was further used by the UNDP to measure the country's development in its annual Human Development Reports.The index was initially calculated at the country level. The Global Data Lab at Radboud University in the Netherlands launched a subnational HDI (SHDI) in 2018, which covers around 1,800 regions in over 160 countries to better reflect the differences within countries. [1] [2] Global Data Lab also provides the Subnational Human the Subnational Gender Development Index (SGDI) and data on income, years of education and life expectancy on the subnational level. The SHDI and SGDI are based on the UNDP's official HDI and GDI, but they use subnational data in addition to national data.
25 highest HDIs
The top 25 regions with the highest HDi in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | County | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Very high human development | |||
1 | Zurich | Switzerland | 0.989 |
2 | Oslo and Akershus | Norway | 0.980 |
Australian Capital Territory | Australia | ||
4 | Greater London | United Kingdom | 0.973 |
5 | Hamburg | Germany | 0.972 |
Stockholm County | Sweden | ||
7 | Western Australia | Australia | 0.967 |
Capital Region of Denmark | Denmark | ||
9 | Lake Geneva region | Switzerland | 0.966 |
10 | Utrecht province | Netherlands | 0.964 |
11 | North Holland | Netherlands | 0.962 |
12 | Ticino | Switzerland | 0.961 |
13 | Prague | Czech Republic | 0.960 |
Helsinki-Uusimaa Region | Finland | ||
15 | Berlin | Germany | 0.959 |
16 | Wellington Region | New Zealand | 0.958 |
Western Norway | Norway | ||
18 | Northwestern Switzerland | Switzerland | 0.957 |
19 | Baden-Württemberg | Germany | 0.956 |
Trøndelag | Norway | 0.956 | |
21 | Alberta | Canada | 0.955 |
22 | Bremen | Germany | 0.954 |
23 | Brussels | Belgium | 0.953 |
Central Slovenia | Slovenia | ||
25 | New South Wales | Australia | 0.952 |
Capital Area (Gyeonggi, Seoul, Incheon) | South Korea | ||
Central Switzerland | Switzerland | ||
25 lowest HDIs
The top 25 regions with the lowest HDi in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | Country | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Low human development | |||
1 | Middle Juba | Somalia | 0.232 |
2 | Zone 2 (Borkou, Ennedi, Tibesti, Kanem, Barh El Gazel, Lac) | Chad | 0.268 |
3 | Galguduud | Somalia | 0.279 |
4 | Zone 5 (Chari-Baguirmi, Dababa, Baguirmi, Hadjer-Lamis) | Chad | 0.284 |
5 | Sahel Region | Burkina Faso | 0.286 |
6 | Hiran | Somalia | 0.291 |
Zone 4 (Ouaddai, Assoungha, Sila, Wadi Fira) | Chad | ||
8 | Bay | Somalia | 0.294 |
9 | Bakool | Somalia | 0.295 |
10 | Lower Juba | Somalia | 0.300 |
11 | Warrap | South Sudan | 0.311 |
12 | Middle Shabelle | Somalia | 0.315 |
13 | Lower Shabelle | Somalia | 0.323 |
Togdheer | Somalia | ||
15 | Gedo | Somalia | 0.330 |
16 | Timbuktu Region | Mali | 0.331 |
17 | Zone 3 (Guera, Batha, Salamat) | Chad | 0.334 |
18 | Kebbi State | Nigeria | 0.335 |
Jonglei State | South Sudan | ||
20 | Sokoto State | Nigeria | 0.336 |
21 | Sool | Somalia | 0.338 |
22 | Southeastern Region (Basse-Kotto, Mbomou, Haut-Mbomou) | Central African Republic | 0.340 |
23 | Kuntaur | Gambia | 0.342 |
24 | Unity State | South Sudan | 0.344 |
25 | Lakes State | South Sudan | 0.348 |
Top 10 highest
The 10 regions with the highest HDI in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | Country | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Very high human development | |||
1 | South (Grand Port, Savanne, Plaines Wilhems, Rivière Noire) | Mauritius | 0.812 |
High human development | |||
2 | Port Said Governorate | Egypt | 0.797 |
3 | North (Port Louis, Pamplemousses, Rivière du Rempart, Flacq, Moka) | Mauritius | 0.796 |
4 | Suez Governorate | Egypt | 0.783 |
5 | Alexandria Governorate | Egypt | 0.780 |
6 | Cairo Governorate | Egypt | 0.779 |
7 | Grand Tunis | Tunisia | 0.775 |
8 | South-East District | Botswana | 0.770 |
9 | North Center (Algiers, Blida, Boumerdès, Tipaza, Bouïra, Médéa, Tizi Ouzou, Béjaïa, Chlef, Aïn Defla) | Algeria | 0.767 |
10 | Damietta Governorate | Egypt | 0.757 |
Top 10 lowest
The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | Country | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Low human development | |||
1 | Middle Juba | Somalia | 0.232 |
2 | Zone 2 (Borkou, Ennedi, Tibesti, Kanem, Barh El Gazel, Lac) | Chad | 0.268 |
3 | Galguduud | Somalia | 0.279 |
4 | Zone 5 (Chari-Baguirmi, Dababa, Baguirmi, Hadjer-Lamis) | Chad | 0.284 |
5 | Sahel Region | Burkina Faso | 0.286 |
6 | Hiran | Somalia | 0.291 |
Zone 4 (Ouaddai, Assoungha, Sila, Wadi Fira) | Chad | ||
8 | Bay | Somalia | 0.294 |
9 | Bakool | Somalia | 0.295 |
10 | Lower Juba | Somalia | 0.300 |
Top 10 highest
The 10 regions with the highest HDI in Asia in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | Country | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Very high human development | |||
1 | Capital Area (Gyeonggi, Seoul, Incheon) | South Korea | 0.952 |
2 | Southern Kantō (Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano) | Japan | 0.951 |
3 | Gyeongnam (South Gyeongsang, Busan, Ulsan) | South Korea | 0.936 |
4 | Kansai (Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Nara, Wakayama) | Japan | 0.928 |
5 | Tōkai (Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie) | Japan | 0.924 |
6 | Chūgoku (Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi) | Japan | 0.921 |
7 | Northern Kantō (Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma) | Japan | 0.913 |
8 | Chungcheong (North Chungcheong, South Chungcheong, Daejeon, Sejong) | South Korea | 0.912 |
10 | Beijing | China | 0.907 |
Jeju | South Korea | 0.907 |
Top 10 lowest
The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in Asia in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | Country | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Low human development | |||
1 | Hajjah, Sa'dah, 'Amran | Yemen | 0.395 |
2 | Al Hudaydah, Al Mahwit | Yemen | 0.406 |
3 | South (Uruzgan, Helmand, Zabul, Nimroz, Kandahar) | Afghanistan | 0.407 |
4 | Al Bayda, Dhamar, Raymah | Yemen | 0.408 |
5 | North East (Baghlan, Takhar, Badakhshan, Kunduz) | Afghanistan | 0.444 |
6 | West (Ghor, Herat, Badghis, Farah) | Afghanistan | 0.447 |
7 | Ibb | Yemen | 0.450 |
8 | Former Federally Administered Tribal Areas | Pakistan | 0.456 |
9 | East (Nangarhar, Kunar, Laghman, Nuristan) | Afghanistan | 0.459 |
10 | Balochistan | Pakistan | 0.463 |
Top 10 highest
The 10 regions with the highest HDI in Europe in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | County | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Very high human development | |||
1 | Zürich Canton | Switzerland | 0.989 |
2 | Oslo and Akershus | Norway | 0.980 |
3 | Greater London | United Kingdom | 0.973 |
4 | Hamburg | Germany | 0.972 |
Stockholm County | Sweden | ||
6 | Capital Region of Denmark | Denmark | 0.967 |
7 | Lake Geneva region | Switzerland | 0.966 |
8 | Utrecht province | Netherlands | 0.964 |
9 | North Holland | Netherlands | 0.962 |
10 | Ticino | Switzerland | 0.961 |
Top 10 lowest
The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in Europe in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | Country | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
High human development | |||
1 | Southeastern Statistical Region | Macedonia | 0.722 |
2 | Severozapaden Planning Region | Bulgaria | 0.739 |
3 | Center Moldova | Republic of Moldova | 0.742 |
Northeastern Statistical Region | Macedonia | ||
5 | Gjilan District | Kosovo | 0.743 |
6 | North Moldova | Republic of Moldova | 0.746 |
7 | Eastern Statistical Region | Macedonia | 0.747 |
8 | Gjakova District | Kosovo | 0.748 |
9 | Prizren district | Kosovo | 0.751 |
10 | Polog Statistical Region | Macedonia | 0.753 |
Yugoiztochen Planning Region | Bulgaria | 0.753 |
Top 10 highest
The 10 regions with the highest HDI in North America in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | Country | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Very high human development | |||
1 | Alberta | Canada | 0.955 |
2 | Massachusetts | United States | 0.949 |
3 | Connecticut | United States | 0.948 |
4 | Minnesota | United States | 0.947 |
5 | British Columbia | Canada | 0.944 |
6 | Ontario | Canada | 0.943 |
New Hampshire | United States | ||
New Jersey | United States | ||
9 | Colorado | United States | 0.942 |
10 | District of Columbia | United States | 0.940 |
Hawaii | United States | ||
North Dakota | United States | ||
Washington | United States |
Top 10 lowest
The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in North America in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | Country | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Low human development | |||
1 | Centre | Haiti | 0.485 |
2 | Artibonite | Haiti | 0.501 |
3 | Grand'Anse, Nippes | Haiti | 0.505 |
4 | Sud-Est | Haiti | 0.513 |
5 | Sud | Haiti | 0.520 |
6 | Nord-Est | Haiti | 0.524 |
7 | Nord-Ouest | Haiti | 0.527 |
8 | Lempira Department | Honduras | 0.544 |
Medium human development | |||
9 | Nord | Haiti | 0.550 |
Gracias a Dios Department | Honduras | 0.550 |
Top 10 highest
The 10 regions with the highest HDI in South America in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | Country | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Very high human development | |||
1 | Santiago Metropolitan Region | Chile | 0.886 |
2 | Tarapacá Region | Chile | 0.882 |
3 | Antofagasta Region | Chile | 0.876 |
4 | Valparaíso Region | Chile | 0.871 |
5 | Magallanes Region | Chile | 0.867 |
6 | Atacama Region | Chile | 0.859 |
7 | Greater Buenos Aires | Argentina | 0.844 |
8 | Patagonia Region | Argentina | 0.843 |
9 | Cuyo | Argentina | 0.841 |
Pampas region | Argentina |
Top 10 lowest
The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in South America in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | Country | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Medium human development | |||
1 | Brokopondo and Sipaliwini | Suriname | 0.597 |
2 | Potosí Department | Bolivia | 0.606 |
3 | Apure | Venezuela | 0.619 |
4 | Vaupés Department | Colombia | 0.625 |
5 | Potaro-Siparuni | Guyana | 0.627 |
6 | Barima-Waini | Guyana | 0.635 |
7 | Barinas | Venezuela | 0.637 |
8 | Portuguesa | Venezuela | 0.638 |
9 | Guárico | Venezuela | 0.653 |
10 | La Guajira Department | Colombia | 0.656 |
Top 10 highest
The 10 regions with the highest HDI in Oceania in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | Country | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Very high human development | |||
1 | Australian Capital Territory | Australia | 0.980 |
2 | Western Australia | Australia | 0.967 |
3 | Wellington Region | New Zealand | 0.958 |
4 | New South Wales | Australia | 0.952 |
5 | Auckland Region | New Zealand | 0.951 |
6 | Victoria | Australia | 0.948 |
7 | Queensland | Australia | 0.944 |
8 | Northern Territory | Australia | 0.940 |
9 | South Australia | Australia | 0.939 |
Taranaki | New Zealand |
Top 10 lowest
The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in Oceania in 2021 were: [3]
Rank | Region | Country | HDI (2021) |
---|---|---|---|
Low human development | |||
1 | Hela Province | Papua New Guinea | 0.463 |
2 | Enga Province | Papua New Guinea | 0.490 |
3 | Southern Highlands Province | Papua New Guinea | 0.490 |
4 | Gulf Province | Papua New Guinea | 0.524 |
5 | Eastern Highlands Province | Papua New Guinea | 0.525 |
6 | Sandaun Province | Papua New Guinea | 0.532 |
7 | Penama Province | Vanuatu | 0.545 |
8 | Torba Province | Vanuatu | 0.547 |
Medium human development | |||
9 | East Sepik Province | Papua New Guinea | 0.552 |
Jiwaka Province | Papua New Guinea | 0.554 |
A developed country, or high-income country, is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy, and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. Most commonly, the criteria for evaluating the degree of economic development are the gross domestic product (GDP), gross national product (GNP), the per capita income, level of industrialization, amount of widespread infrastructure and general standard of living. Which criteria are to be used and which countries can be classified as being developed are subjects of debate. Different definitions of developed countries are provided by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; moreover, HDI ranking is used to reflect the composite index of life expectancy, education, and income per capita. Another commonly used measure of a developed country is the threshold of GDP (PPP) per capita of at least US$22,000. In 2023, 40 countries fit all four criteria, while an additional 15 countries fit three out of four.
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.
The Human Development Report (HDR) is an annual Human Development Index report published by the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Gender Development Index (GDI) is an index designed to measure gender equality.
An Education index is a component of the Human Development Index published every year by the United Nations Development Programme. Alongside the Economical indicators and Life Expectancy Index, it helps measure the educational attainment. GNI (PPP) per capita and life expectancy are also used with the education index to get the HDI of each country.
Multidimensional Poverty Indices use a range of indicators to calculate a summary poverty figure for a given population, in which a larger figure indicates a higher level of poverty. This figure considers both the proportion of the population that is deemed poor, and the 'breadth' of poverty experienced by these 'poor' households, following the Alkire & Foster 'counting method'. The method was developed following increased criticism of monetary and consumption based poverty measures, seeking to capture the deprivations in non-monetary factors that contribute towards well-being. While there is a standard set of indicators, dimensions, cutoffs and thresholds used for a 'Global MPI', the method is flexible and there are many examples of poverty studies that modify it to best suit their environment. The methodology has been mainly, but not exclusively, applied to developing countries.
The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is an index for the measurement of gender disparity that was introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report 20th anniversary edition by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). According to the UNDP, this index is a composite measure to quantify the loss of achievement within a country due to gender inequality. It uses three dimensions to measure opportunity cost: reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market participation. The new index was introduced as an experimental measure to remedy the shortcomings of the previous indicators, the Gender Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), both of which were introduced in the 1995 Human Development Report.