Human Development Index (HDI)

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being ... Skiptomaincontent DataCenter HumanDevelopmentIndex(HDI) TheHDIwascreatedtoemphasizethatpeopleandtheircapabilitiesshouldbetheultimatecriteriaforassessingthedevelopmentofacountry,noteconomicgrowthalone.TheHDIcanalsobeusedtoquestionnationalpolicychoices,askinghowtwocountrieswiththesamelevelofGNIpercapitacanendupwithdifferenthumandevelopmentoutcomes.Thesecontrastscanstimulatedebateaboutgovernmentpolicypriorities. TheHumanDevelopmentIndex(HDI)isasummarymeasureofaverageachievementinkeydimensionsofhumandevelopment:alongandhealthylife,beingknowledgeableandhaveadecentstandardofliving.TheHDIisthegeometricmeanofnormalizedindicesforeachofthethreedimensions. Thehealthdimensionisassessedbylifeexpectancyatbirth,theeducationdimensionismeasuredbymeanofyearsofschoolingforadultsaged25yearsandmoreandexpectedyearsofschoolingforchildrenofschoolenteringage.Thestandardoflivingdimensionismeasuredbygrossnationalincomepercapita.TheHDIusesthelogarithmofincome,toreflectthediminishingimportanceofincomewithincreasingGNI.ThescoresforthethreeHDIdimensionindicesarethenaggregatedintoacompositeindexusinggeometricmean.RefertoTechnicalnotesformoredetails. TheHDIsimplifiesandcapturesonlypartofwhathumandevelopmententails.Itdoesnotreflectoninequalities,poverty,humansecurity,empowerment,etc.TheHDROofferstheothercompositeindicesasbroaderproxyonsomeofthekeyissuesofhumandevelopment,inequality,genderdisparityandpoverty. Afullerpictureofacountry'slevelofhumandevelopmentrequiresanalysisofotherindicatorsandinformationpresentedinthestatisticalannexofthereport.