Human Development Index (HDI) by Country 2026
Iceland
South Sudan
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.
These countries consistently rank at the top over time, with only small year-to-year changes. A high HDI score reflects strong average outcomes in health, education, and income, but it does not make a country immune to setbacks. UNDP reported a global HDI decline in both 2020 and 2021.
Countries with the Lowest HDI
Central African Republic (0.414), Somalia (0.404), and South Sudan (0.388) have the lowest HDI scores.
Low HDI scores show gaps in average health, education, and income outcomes. While bottom-ranked countries show slow, incremental gains over time, suggesting that improving human development is a gradual process that can be difficult to accelerate, the scores alone do not tell us how quickly a country can improve. Trends, conditions, and speed of development differ across countries.
What Is a Good HDI Score?
The global average HDI is approximately 0.756, with scores ranging from below 0.4 to above 0.95 across countries.
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
Human development has improved over the longer term, but progress has not been uninterrupted. UNDP reported that global HDI fell in both 2020 and 2021 [during the pandemic](https://hdr.undp.org/content/human-development-report-2021-22). The pace of overall human development has waxed and waned since the measure's introduction and is not constant.
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.
