Lifestyle and Preventive Health
Human Development Index (HDI) by Country 2026
World
0.756
0.53%
Global Average The HDI combines life expectancy, education, and income to measure overall human development.
Iceland 0.972
Highest Top-ranking countries perform consistently well across all three dimensions rather than relying on a single strength.
South Sudan 0.388
Lowest Lower HDI scores reflect combined shortfalls in health, education, and income that reinforce one another.
Countries Ranked by Human Development Index
Country | Human Development Index 2023↓ | Current HDI Tier 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Iceland | 0.972 | Very High |
 | Switzerland | 0.970 | Very High |
 | Norway | 0.970 | Very High |
 | Denmark | 0.962 | Very High |
 | Germany | 0.959 | Very High |
 | Sweden | 0.959 | Very High |
 | Australia | 0.958 | Very High |
 | Netherlands | 0.955 | Very High |
 | Hong Kong | 0.955 | Very High |
 | Belgium | 0.951 | Very High |
 | Ireland | 0.949 | Very High |
 | Finland | 0.948 | Very High |
 | United Kingdom | 0.946 | Very High |
 | Singapore | 0.946 | Very High |
 | United Arab Emirates | 0.940 | Very High |
 | Canada | 0.939 | Very High |
 | United States | 0.938 | Very High |
 | New Zealand | 0.938 | Very High |
 | Liechtenstein | 0.938 | Very High |
 | South Korea | 0.937 | Very High |
 | Slovenia | 0.931 | Very High |
 | Austria | 0.930 | Very High |
 | Japan | 0.925 | Very High |
 | Malta | 0.924 | Very High |
 | Luxembourg | 0.922 | Very High |
 | France | 0.920 | Very High |
 | Israel | 0.919 | Very High |
 | Spain | 0.918 | Very High |
 | Italy | 0.915 | Very High |
 | Czechia | 0.915 | |
 | San Marino | 0.915 | Very High |
 | Cyprus | 0.913 | Very High |
 | Andorra | 0.913 | Very High |
 | Greece | 0.908 | Very High |
 | Poland | 0.906 | Very High |
 | Estonia | 0.905 | Very High |
 | Saudi Arabia | 0.900 | Very High |
 | Bahrain | 0.899 | Very High |
 | Lithuania | 0.895 | Very High |
 | Portugal | 0.890 | Very High |
 | Croatia | 0.889 | Very High |
 | Latvia | 0.889 | Very High |
 | Qatar | 0.886 | Very High |
 | Slovakia | 0.880 | Very High |
 | Chile | 0.878 | Very High |
 | Hungary | 0.870 | Very High |
 | Argentina | 0.865 | Very High |
 | Uruguay | 0.862 | Very High |
 | Montenegro | 0.862 | Very High |
 | Oman | 0.858 | Very High |
 | Turkey | 0.853 | Very High |
 | Kuwait | 0.852 | Very High |
 | Antigua and Barbuda | 0.851 | Very High |
 | Seychelles | 0.848 | Very High |
 | Romania | 0.845 | Very High |
 | Bulgaria | 0.845 | Very High |
 | Georgia | 0.844 | Very High |
 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 0.840 | Very High |
 | Panama | 0.839 | Very High |
 | Kazakhstan | 0.837 | Very High |
 | Brunei | 0.837 | Very High |
 | Serbia | 0.833 | Very High |
 | Costa Rica | 0.833 | Very High |
 | Russia | 0.832 | Very High |
 | Belarus | 0.824 | Very High |
 | Bahamas | 0.820 | Very High |
 | Malaysia | 0.819 | Very High |
 | North Macedonia | 0.815 | Very High |
 | Armenia | 0.811 | Very High |
 | Barbados | 0.811 | Very High |
 | Albania | 0.810 | Very High |
 | Trinidad and Tobago | 0.807 | Very High |
 | Mauritius | 0.806 | Very High |
 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0.804 | Very High |
 | Iran | 0.799 | High |
 | Thailand | 0.798 | High |
 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 0.798 | High |
 | China | 0.797 | High |
 | Peru | 0.794 | High |
 | Grenada | 0.791 | High |
 | Mexico | 0.789 | High |
 | Azerbaijan | 0.789 | High |
 | Colombia | 0.788 | High |
 | Brazil | 0.786 | High |
 | Palau | 0.786 | High |
 | Moldova | 0.785 | High |
 | Ukraine | 0.779 | High |
 | Ecuador | 0.777 | High |
 | Sri Lanka | 0.776 | High |
 | Dominican Republic | 0.776 | High |
 | Guyana | 0.776 | High |
 | Tonga | 0.769 | High |
 | Vietnam | 0.766 | High |
 | Maldives | 0.766 | High |
 | Turkmenistan | 0.764 | High |
 | Algeria | 0.763 | High |
 | Cuba | 0.762 | High |
 | Dominica | 0.761 | High |
 | Paraguay | 0.756 | High |
 | Egypt | 0.754 | High |
 | Jordan | 0.754 | High |
 | Lebanon | 0.752 | High |
 | Saint Lucia | 0.748 | High |
 | Mongolia | 0.747 | High |
 | Tunisia | 0.746 | High |
 | South Africa | 0.741 | High |
 | Uzbekistan | 0.740 | High |
 | Bolivia | 0.733 | High |
 | Gabon | 0.733 | High |
 | Marshall Islands | 0.733 | High |
 | Botswana | 0.731 | High |
 | Fiji | 0.731 | High |
 | Indonesia | 0.728 | High |
 | Suriname | 0.722 | High |
 | Libya | 0.721 | High |
 | Belize | 0.721 | High |
 | Philippines | 0.720 | High |
 | Kyrgyzstan | 0.720 | High |
 | Jamaica | 0.720 | High |
 | Morocco | 0.710 | High |
 | Venezuela | 0.709 | High |
 | Samoa | 0.708 | High |
 | Nicaragua | 0.706 | High |
 | Nauru | 0.703 | High |
 | Bhutan | 0.698 | Medium |
 | Iraq | 0.695 | Medium |
 | Eswatini | 0.695 | Medium |
 | Tajikistan | 0.691 | Medium |
 | Tuvalu | 0.689 | Medium |
 | India | 0.685 | Medium |
 | Bangladesh | 0.685 | Medium |
 | El Salvador | 0.678 | Medium |
 | Palestine | 0.674 | Medium |
 | Equatorial Guinea | 0.674 | Medium |
 | Cape Verde | 0.668 | Medium |
 | Namibia | 0.665 | Medium |
 | Guatemala | 0.662 | Medium |
 | Republic of the Congo | 0.649 | Medium |
 | Honduras | 0.645 | Medium |
 | Kiribati | 0.644 | Medium |
 | Sao Tome and Principe | 0.637 | Medium |
 | Timor-Leste | 0.634 | Medium |
 | Kenya | 0.628 | Medium |
 | Ghana | 0.628 | Medium |
 | Nepal | 0.622 | Medium |
 | Vanuatu | 0.621 | Medium |
 | Laos | 0.617 | Medium |
 | Angola | 0.616 | Medium |
 | Micronesia | 0.615 | Medium |
 | Myanmar | 0.609 | Medium |
 | Cambodia | 0.606 | Medium |
 | Comoros | 0.603 | Medium |
 | Zimbabwe | 0.598 | Medium |
 | Zambia | 0.595 | Medium |
 | Cameroon | 0.588 | Medium |
 | Solomon Islands | 0.584 | Medium |
 | Uganda | 0.582 | Medium |
 | Ivory Coast | 0.582 | Medium |
 | Rwanda | 0.578 | Medium |
 | Papua New Guinea | 0.576 | Medium |
 | Togo | 0.571 | Medium |
 | Syria | 0.564 | Medium |
 | Mauritania | 0.563 | Medium |
 | Nigeria | 0.560 | Medium |
 | Tanzania | 0.555 | Medium |
 | Haiti | 0.554 | Medium |
 | Lesotho | 0.550 | Medium |
 | Pakistan | 0.544 | Low |
 | Senegal | 0.530 | Low |
 | Gambia | 0.524 | Low |
 | DR Congo | 0.522 | Low |
 | Malawi | 0.517 | Low |
 | Benin | 0.515 | Low |
 | Guinea-Bissau | 0.514 | Low |
 | Djibouti | 0.513 | Low |
 | Sudan | 0.511 | Low |
 | Liberia | 0.510 | Low |
 | Eritrea | 0.503 | Low |
 | Guinea | 0.500 | Low |
 | Ethiopia | 0.497 | Low |
 | Afghanistan | 0.496 | Low |
 | Mozambique | 0.493 | Low |
 | Madagascar | 0.487 | Low |
 | Yemen | 0.470 | Low |
 | Sierra Leone | 0.467 | Low |
 | Burkina Faso | 0.459 | Low |
 | Burundi | 0.439 | Low |
 | Niger | 0.419 | Low |
 | Mali | 0.419 | Low |
 | Chad | 0.416 | Low |
 | Central African Republic | 0.414 | Low |
 | Somalia | 0.404 | Low |
 | South Sudan | 0.388 | Low |
Key Findings
Countries with the Highest HDI
-
Iceland (0.972), Switzerland (0.970), and Norway (0.970) lead globally in HDI.
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These countries consistently rank at the top over time, with only small year-to-year changes—showing that very high human development is stable and difficult to disrupt.
Countries with the Lowest HDI
-
Central African Republic (0.414), Somalia (0.404), and South Sudan (0.388) have the lowest HDI scores.
-
Bottom-ranked countries show slow, incremental gains over time, suggesting that improving human development is a gradual process that is difficult to accelerate.
What Is a Good HDI Score?
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The global average HDI is approximately 0.756, with scores ranging from below 0.4 to above 0.95 across countries.
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Countries are grouped into tiers, with scores above 0.8 considered very high development, while lower tiers reflect increasing gaps in life expectancy, education, and standard of living.
World Trend Line
Global Human Development Index Trends
Global HDI scores have risen steadily as health, education, and income levels improved worldwide. That said, progress has slowed in recent years as gains become harder to achieve in lower-performing regions with structural constraints.
Human Development Index
Comparison
Countries with similar HDI scores can differ significantly in how development is achieved, with some driven more by income and others by health and education.
Definitions & Methodology
What Is the Human Development Index? The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite metric developed by the United Nations to measure overall human development. It combines indicators of life expectancy, education, and standard of living into a single score ranging from 0 to 1.0.
HDI Tiers Countries are grouped into four HDI tiers based on their scores: very high (0.8–1.0), high (0.7–0.79), medium (0.55–0.69), and low (below 0.55). These tiers help contextualize development levels beyond simple rankings.
Last Updated: May 14, 2026
