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Encyclopedia of Public Health:

Human Development Index

Human development can be viewed as the process of achieving an optimum level of health and well-being. It includes physical, biological, mental, emotional, social, educational, economic, and cultural components. Only some of these are expressed in the Human Development Index, a composite scale that has three dimensions: life expectancy at birth, adult literacy rate and mean years of schooling, and income as measured by real gross domestic product per capita. Like all one-dimensional scales that attempt to measure multiple complex variables, it is flawed by inherent inaccuracies, but it is nonetheless a useful comparative measure of the well-being of a population.

(SEE ALSO: Assessment of Health Status; Health Measurement Scales)

— JOHN M. LAST



 
 
Geography Dictionary: Human Development Index

A compound indicator of economic development, established by the United Nations, which attempts to get away from purely monetary measurements by combining per capita GNP with life expectancy and literacy in a weighted average. The complete index is available online at http://www.undp.org/hdr2003/indicator/index.html

 
Wikipedia: Human Development Index
World map indicating Human Development Index (2006).            high (0.800–1)        medium (0.500–0.799)        low (0.300–0.499)        n/a   (colour-blind compliant map, for red-green color vision problems)
Enlarge
World map indicating Human Development Index (2006).
     high (0.800–1)      medium (0.500–0.799)      low (0.300–0.499)      n/a
(colour-blind compliant map, for red-green color vision problems)

The Human Development Index (HDI) is the measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to determine and indicate whether a country is a developed, developing, or underdeveloped country and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life.[1] The index was developed in 1990 by Indian Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen, Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, with help from Gustav Ranis of Yale University and Lord Meghnad Desai of the London School of Economics and has been used since then by the United Nations Development Programme in its annual Human Development Report. Described by Sen as a "vulgar measure", because of its limitations, it nonetheless focuses attention on wider aspects of development than the per capita income measure it supplanted, and is a pathway for researchers into the wide variety of more detailed measures contained in the Human Development Reports.

The HDI measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development:

Each year, UN member states are listed and ranked according to these measures. Those high on the list often advertise it,[2] as a means of attracting talented immigrants (economically, individual capital) or discouraging emigration.

An alternative measure, focusing on the amount of poverty in a country, is the Human Poverty Index.

Methodology

HDI trends between 1975 and 2004          OECD      Central and eastern Europe, and the CIS      Latin America and the Caribbean      East Asia       Arab States      South Asia      Sub-Saharan Africa
Enlarge
HDI trends between 1975 and 2004
     OECD      Central and eastern Europe, and the CIS      Latin America and the Caribbean      East Asia      Arab States      South Asia      Sub-Saharan Africa

In general to transform a raw variable, say x, into a unit-free index between 0 and 1 (which allows different indices to be added together), the following formula is used:

  • x-index = \frac{x - \min\left(x\right)} {\max\left(x\right)-\min\left(x\right)}

where \min\left(x\right) and \max\left(x\right) are the lowest and highest values the variable x can attain, respectively.

The Human Development Index (HDI) then represents the average of the following three general indices:

  • Life Expectancy Index = \frac{LE - 25} {85-25}
  • Education Index = \frac{2} {3} \times ALI + \frac{1} {3} \times GEI
  • GDP Index = \frac{\log\left(GDPpc\right) - \log\left(100\right)} {\log\left(40000\right) - \log\left(100\right)}

LE: Life expectancy at birth
ALR: Adult literacy rate (ages 15 and older)
CGER: Combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools
GDPpc: GDP per capita at PPP in USD

UNDP has created a technical note on the definition of the HDI (see links below).

Examples

Calculation examples of the indices.
Index Measure Minimum value Maximum value Formula
Longevity Life expectancy at birth (LE) 25 yrs 85 yrs L = \frac{\mathrm{LE}-25}{60}
Education Literacy rate (LR) 0% 100% E = \frac{2\mathrm{LR} + \mathrm{CGER}}{3}
Combined gross enrolment ratio (CGER) 0% 100%
GDP GDP per capita (PPP) 100 USD
40,000 USD
G = \frac{\log_{10}\mathrm{GDPpc}-2}{2\mathrm{.}60206}

2006 report

Coloured world map indicating Human Development Index (2006)          0.950 and over      0.900–0.949      0.850–0.899      0.800–0.849      0.750–0.799      0.700–0.749       0.650–0.699      0.600–0.649      0.550–0.599      0.500–0.549      0.450–0.499      0.400–0.449       0.350–0.399      0.300–0.349      under 0.300      N/A  (colour-blind compliant map)
Enlarge
Coloured world map indicating Human Development Index (2006)
     0.950 and over      0.900–0.949      0.850–0.899      0.800–0.849      0.750–0.799      0.700–0.749      0.650–0.699      0.600–0.649      0.550–0.599      0.500–0.549      0.450–0.499      0.400–0.449      0.350–0.399      0.300–0.349      under 0.300      N/A
(colour-blind compliant map)

The report for 2006 was launched in Cape Town, South Africa, on November 9, 2006. Its focus was on "power, poverty and the global water crisis." [1] Most of the data used for the report are derived largely from 2004 or earlier, thus indicating an HDI for 2004. Not all UN member states choose to or are able to provide the necessary statistics.

The report showed a stagnation in world HDI, as the continued improvement of developed countries was offset by a general decline of the developing world. Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia showed an important decline in HDI, in comparison with last year's report. Other developing regions showed little to no improvement.

A HDI below 0.5 is considered to represent low development. 29 of the 31 countries in that category are located in Africa, with the exceptions of Haiti and Yemen. The bottom ten countries are all in Africa. The highest-scoring Sub-Saharan countries, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa, are ranked 120th and 121st, respectively (with a shared HDI of 0.653).

A HDI of 0.8 or more is considered to represent high development. This includes all developed countries, such as those in North America, Western Europe, Oceania, and Eastern Asia, as well as some developing countries in Eastern Europe, Central and South America, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and the oil-rich Arabian Peninsula.

On the following table, green arrows (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg) represent an increase in ranking over the previous study, while red arrows (Red_Arrow_Down.svg) represent a decrease in ranking. They are followed by the number of spaces they moved. Blue dashes (Straight_Line_Steady.svg) represent a nation that did not move in the rankings since the previous study.

Top thirty countries (HDI range from 0.965 down to 0.885)

  1. Flag of Norway Norway 0.965 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
  2. Flag of Iceland Iceland 0.960 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
  3. Flag of Australia Australia 0.957 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
  4. Flag of Ireland Ireland 0.956 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 4)
  5. Flag of Sweden Sweden 0.951 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 1)
  6. Flag of Canada Canada 0.950 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
  7. Flag of Japan Japan 0.949 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 4)
  8. Flag of the United States United States 0.948 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 2)
  9. Flag of Switzerland Switzerland 0.947 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 2)
  10. Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands 0.947 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 2)
  1. Flag of Finland Finland 0.947 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 2)
  2. Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg 0.945 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 8)
  3. Flag of Belgium Belgium 0.945 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 4)
  4. Flag of Austria Austria 0.944 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 3)
  5. Flag of Denmark Denmark 0.943 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
  6. Flag of France France 0.942 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
  7. Flag of Italy Italy 0.940 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 1)
  8. Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 0.940 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 3)
  9. Flag of Spain Spain 0.938 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 2)
  10. Flag of New Zealand New Zealand 0.936 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
  1. Flag of Germany Germany 0.932 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
  2. Flag of Hong Kong Hong Kong 0.927 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
  3. Flag of Israel Israel 0.927 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
  4. Flag of Greece Greece 0.921 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
  5. Flag of Singapore Singapore 0.916 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
  6. Flag of South Korea South Korea 0.912 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 2)
  7. Flag of Slovenia Slovenia 0.910 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
  8. Flag of Portugal Portugal 0.904 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
  9. Flag of Cyprus Cyprus 0.903 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
  10. Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic 0.885 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 1)

Top/bottom three countries by region

Africa

047. Flag of the Seychelles Seychelles 0.842 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 4)
063. Flag of Mauritius Mauritius 0.800 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 2)
064. Flag of Libya Libya 0.798 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 6)
...
175. Flag of Mali Mali 0.338 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
176. Flag of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone 0.335 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
177. Flag of Niger Niger 0.311 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)

Asia

007. Flag of Japan Japan 0.949 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 4)
022. Flag of Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR 0.927 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
023. Flag of Israel Israel 0.927 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
...
138. Flag of Nepal Nepal 0.527 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 2)
142. Flag of East Timor Timor-Leste 0.512 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 2)
150. Flag of Yemen Yemen 0.492 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 1)

Europe

001. Flag of Norway Norway 0.965 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
002. Flag of Iceland Iceland 0.960 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
004. Flag of Ireland Ireland 0.956 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 4)
...
097. Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia 0.743 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 3)
099. Flag of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan 0.736 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 2)
114. Flag of Moldova Moldova 0.694 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 1)

North/Central America

006. Flag of Canada Canada 0.950 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 1)
008. Flag of the United States United States 0.948 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 2)
031. Flag of Barbados Barbados 0.879 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
...
117. Flag of Honduras Honduras 0.683 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
118. Flag of Guatemala Guatemala 0.673 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
154. Flag of Haiti Haiti 0.482 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)

Oceania

003. Flag of Australia Australia 0.957 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
020. Flag of New Zealand New Zealand 0.936 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
055. Flag of Tonga Tonga 0.815 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
...
119. Flag of Vanuatu Vanuatu 0.670 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
128. Flag of the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands 0.592 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
139. Flag of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea 0.523 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 2)

South America

036. Flag of Argentina Argentina 0.863 (Straight_Line_Steady.svg)
038. Flag of Chile Chile 0.859 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 1)
043. Flag of Uruguay Uruguay 0.851 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 3)
...
091. Flag of Paraguay Paraguay 0.757 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 3)
103. Flag of Guyana Guyana 0.725 (Green_Arrow_Up_Darker.svg 4)
115. Flag of Bolivia Bolivia 0.692 (Red_Arrow_Down.svg 2)

Countries not included

The following countries or territories are not ranked in the 2006 Human Development Index, for being unable or unwilling to provide the necessary data, or for not being recognized as states by the United Nations at the time of publication.

Africa

Americas


Asia

Europe

Oceania

Past top countries

The number one ranked country in each year of the index. Canada is the highest ranking country, staying at the top ten times, and is followed by Norway, which stayed at the top six times.


References

See also