Human Development Index, 1975-2005 - Ranked Highest to Lowest in 2005

Rank	Country/Region	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000	2005
-------     ----------------------------	----------	----------	----------	----------	----------	----------	----------
   1	Iceland		0.868	0.89	0.899	0.918	0.923	0.947	0.968
   2	Norway		0.87	0.889	0.9	0.913	0.938	0.958	0.968
   3	Australia		0.851	0.868	0.88	0.894	0.934	0.949	0.962
   4	Canada		0.873	0.888	0.911	0.931	0.936	0.946	0.961
   5	Ireland		0.823	0.835	0.851	0.875	0.898	0.931	0.959
   6	Sweden		0.872	0.882	0.893	0.904	0.935	0.952	0.956
   7	Switzerland	0.883	0.895	0.902	0.915	0.926	0.946	0.955
   8	Japan		0.861	0.886	0.899	0.916	0.929	0.941	0.953
   9	Netherlands	0.873	0.885	0.899	0.914	0.934	0.947	0.953
  10	France		0.856	0.872	0.884	0.907	0.925	0.938	0.952
  11	Finland		0.846	0.866	0.884	0.906	0.918	0.94	0.952
  12	United States	0.87	0.89	0.904	0.919	0.931	0.942	0.951
  13	Spain		0.846	0.863	0.877	0.896	0.914	0.932	0.949
  14	Denmark		0.875	0.883	0.89	0.898	0.916	0.935	0.949
  15	Austria		0.848	0.862	0.876	0.899	0.918	0.938	0.948
  16	United Kingdom	0.853	0.86	0.87	0.89	0.929	0.931	0.946
  17	Belgium		0.852	0.869	0.883	0.903	0.931	0.943	0.946
  18	Luxembourg	0.836	0.85	0.863	0.89	0.913	0.929	0.944
  19	New Zealand	0.854	0.86	0.871	0.88	0.908	0.927	0.943
  20	Italy		0.845	0.861	0.869	0.892	0.91	0.926	0.941
  21	Hong Kong	0.763	0.803	0.83	0.865	0.886	0.919	0.937
  22	Germany		..	0.863	0.871	0.89	0.913	0.928	0.935
  23	Israel		0.805	0.83	0.85	0.869	0.891	0.918	0.932
  24	Greece		0.841	0.856	0.869	0.877	0.882	0.897	0.926
  25	Singapore		0.729	0.762	0.789	0.827	0.865	..	0.922
  26	Korea, South	0.713	0.747	0.785	0.825	0.861	0.892	0.921
  27	Slovenia		..	..	..	0.851	0.857	0.891	0.917
  28	Cyprus		..	0.809	0.828	0.851	0.87	0.893	0.903
  29	Portugal		0.793	0.807	0.829	0.855	0.885	0.904	0.897
  30	Brunei		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.894
  31	Barbados		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.892
  32	Czech Republic	..	..	..	0.845	0.854	0.866	0.891
  33	Kuwait		0.771	0.789	0.794	..	0.826	0.855	0.891
  34	Malta		0.738	0.772	0.799	0.833	0.857	0.877	0.878
  35	Qatar		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.875
  36	Hungary		0.786	0.801	0.813	0.813	0.817	0.845	0.874
  37	Poland		..	..	..	0.806	0.822	0.852	0.870
  38	Argentina		0.79	0.804	0.811	0.813	0.836	0.862	0.869
  39	United Arab Emirates	0.734	0.769	0.79	0.816	0.825	0.837	0.868
  40	Chile		0.708	0.743	0.761	0.788	0.819	0.845	0.867
  41	Bahrain		..	0.747	0.783	0.808	0.834	0.846	0.866
  42	Slovakia		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.863
  43	Lithuania		..	..	..	0.827	0.791	0.831	0.862
  44	Estonia		..	0.811	0.82	0.813	0.792	0.829	0.860
  45	Latvia		..	0.797	0.81	0.804	0.771	0.817	0.855
  46	Uruguay		0.762	0.782	0.787	0.806	0.821	0.842	0.852
  47	Croatia		..	..	..	0.812	0.805	0.828	0.850
  48	Costa Rica	0.746	0.772	0.774	0.794	0.814	0.83	0.846
  49	Bahamas		..	0.809	0.822	0.831	0.82	0.825	0.845
  50	Seychelles	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.843
  51	Cuba		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.838
  52	Mexico		0.694	0.739	0.758	0.768	0.786	0.814	0.829
  53	Bulgaria		..	0.771	0.792	0.794	0.785	0.8	0.824
  54	Saint Kitts and Nevis	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.821
  55	Tonga		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.819
  56	Libya		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.818
  57	Antigua and Barbuda	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.815
  58	Oman		0.487	0.547	0.641	0.697	0.741	0.779	0.814
  59	Trinidad and Tobago	0.756	0.784	0.782	0.784	0.785	0.796	0.814
  60	Romania		..	0.786	0.792	0.777	0.772	0.78	0.813
  61	Saudi Arabia	0.611	0.666	0.684	0.717	0.748	0.788	0.812
  62	Panama		0.718	0.737	0.751	0.752	0.775	0.797	0.812
  63	Malaysia		0.619	0.662	0.696	0.725	0.763	0.79	0.811
  64	Belarus		..	..	..	0.79	0.755	0.778	0.804
  65	Mauritius		..	0.662	0.692	0.728	0.751	0.781	0.804
  66	Bosnia & Herzegovina	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.803
  67	Russia		..	..	..	0.815	0.771	0.782	0.802
  68	Albania		..	0.675	0.694	0.704	0.705	0.746	0.801
  69	F.Y.R.O.Macedonia	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.801
  70	Brazil		0.649	0.685	0.7	0.723	0.753	0.789	0.800
  71	Dominica		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.798
  72	Saint Lucia	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.795
  73	Kazakhstan	..	..	..	0.771	0.724	0.738	0.794
  74	Venezuela		0.723	0.737	0.743	0.762	0.77	0.776	0.792
  75	Colombia		0.663	0.694	0.709	0.729	0.753	0.772	0.791
  76	Ukraine		..	..	..	0.809	0.756	0.761	0.788
  77	Samoa		..	..	0.709	0.721	0.74	0.765	0.785
  78	Thailand		0.615	0.654	0.679	0.712	0.745	0.761	0.781
  79	Dominican Republic	0.628	0.66	0.684	0.697	0.723	0.757	0.779
  80	Belize		..	0.712	0.718	0.75	0.777	0.795	0.778
  81	China		0.53	0.559	0.595	0.634	0.691	0.732	0.777
  82	Grenada		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.777
  83	Armenia		..	..	..	0.737	0.701	0.738	0.775
  84	Turkey		0.594	0.615	0.651	0.683	0.717	0.753	0.775
  85	Suriname		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.774
  86	Jordan		..	0.647	0.669	0.684	0.71	0.751	0.773
  87	Peru		0.647	0.676	0.699	0.71	0.737	0.763	0.773
  88	Lebanon		..	..	..	0.692	0.73	0.748	0.772
  89	Ecuador		0.636	0.678	0.699	0.714	0.734	..	0.772
  90	Philippines		0.655	0.688	0.692	0.721	0.739	0.758	0.771
  91	Tunisia		0.519	0.575	0.626	0.662	0.702	0.741	0.766
  92	Fiji		0.665	0.688	0.702	..	0.743	0.747	0.762
  93	St.Vinc./Grenadines	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.761
  94	Iran		0.571	0.578	0.615	0.653	0.693	0.722	0.759
  95	Paraguay		0.667	0.701	0.707	0.718	0.737	0.749	0.755
  96	Georgia		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.754
  97	Guyana		0.682	0.684	0.675	0.679	0.699	0.722	0.750
  98	Azerbaijan		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.746
  99	Sri Lanka		0.619	0.656	0.683	0.702	0.721	0.731	0.743
100	Maldives		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.741
101	Jamaica		0.686	0.689	0.69	0.713	0.728	0.744	0.736
102	Cape Verde	..	..	0.589	0.627	0.678	0.709	0.736
103	El Salvador	0.595	0.59	0.611	0.653	0.692	0.716	0.735
104	Algeria		0.511	0.562	0.613	0.652	0.672	0.702	0.733
105	Viet Nam		..	..	0.59	0.62	0.672	0.711	0.733
106	Palestinian Territories	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.731
107	Indonesia		0.471	0.533	0.585	0.626	0.67	0.692	0.728
108	Syria		0.547	0.593	0.628	0.646	0.676	0.69	0.724
109	Turkmenistan	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.713
110	Nicaragua		0.583	0.593	0.601	0.61	0.637	0.671	0.710
111	Moldova		..	0.7	0.722	0.74	0.684	0.683	0.708
112	Egypt		0.434	0.482	0.532	0.575	0.613	0.659	0.708
113	Uzbekistan	..	..	..	0.704	0.683	0.691	0.702
114	Mongolia		..	..	0.637	0.654	0.638	0.667	0.700
115	Honduras		0.528	0.578	0.611	0.634	0.653	0.668	0.700
116	Kyrgyzstan	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.696
117	Bolivia		0.519	0.553	0.58	0.606	0.639	0.677	0.695
118	Guatemala		0.514	0.55	0.566	0.592	0.626	0.667	0.689
119	Gabon		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.677
120	Vanuatu		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.674
121	South Africa	0.65	0.67	0.699	0.731	0.745	0.707	0.674
122	Tajikistan		..	..	0.705	0.703	0.638	0.64	0.673
123	Sao Tome & Principe	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.654
124	Botswana		0.509	0.571	0.624	0.674	0.658	0.631	0.654
125	Namibia		..	..	..	..	0.698	0.657	0.650
126	Morocco		0.435	0.483	0.519	0.551	0.581	0.613	0.646
127	Equatorial Guinea	..	..	0.484	0.505	0.529	0.606	0.642
128	India		0.419	0.45	0.487	0.521	0.551	0.578	0.619
129	Solomon Islands	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.602
130	Laos		..	..	0.448	0.478	0.524	0.563	0.601
131	Cambodia		..	..	..	..	0.54	0.547	0.598
132	Myanmar		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.583
133	Bhutan		..	..	..	..	..	..	0.579
134	Comoros		..	0.483	0.5	0.506	0.521	0.54	0.561
135	Ghana		0.442	0.471	0.486	0.517	0.542	0.568	0.553
136	Pakistan		0.367	0.394	0.427	0.467	0.497	0.516	0.551
137	Mauritania		0.383	0.41	0.435	0.455	0.487	0.509	0.550
138	Lesotho		0.499	0.541	0.571	0.605	0.616	0.581	0.549
139	Congo		0.478	0.52	0.567	0.559	0.546	0.518	0.548
140	Bangladesh	0.347	0.365	0.392	0.422	0.453	0.511	0.547
141	Swaziland		0.527	0.561	0.588	0.633	0.641	0.592	0.547
142	Nepal		0.301	0.338	0.38	0.427	0.469	0.502	0.534
143	Madagascar	0.407	0.444	0.44	0.45	0.463	0.493	0.533
144	Cameroon		0.422	0.468	0.523	0.529	0.513	0.525	0.532
145	Papua New Guinea	0.431	0.462	0.481	0.495	0.532	0.544	0.530
146	Haiti		..	0.442	0.462	0.472	0.487	..	0.529
147	Sudan		0.354	0.381	0.4	0.429	0.463	0.491	0.526
148	Kenya		0.466	0.514	0.534	0.556	0.544	0.529	0.521
149	Djibouti		..	..	..	0.476	0.485	0.49	0.516
150	Timor-Leste	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.514
151	Zimbabwe		0.55	0.579	0.645	0.654	0.613	0.541	0.513
152	Togo		0.423	0.473	0.469	0.496	0.514	0.521	0.512
153	Yemen		..	..	..	0.402	0.439	0.473	0.508
154	Uganda		..	..	0.42	0.434	0.433	0.48	0.505
155	Gambia		0.29	..	..	..	0.436	0.472	0.502
156	Senegal		0.342	0.367	0.401	0.428	0.449	0.473	0.499
157	Eritrea		..	..	..	..	0.435	0.459	0.483
158	Nigeria		0.321	0.378	0.391	0.411	0.432	0.445	0.470
159	Tanzania		..	..	..	0.421	0.419	0.433	0.467

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) introduced a new way of measuring development by combining indicators of life expectancy, educational attainment and income into a composite human development index, the HDI.

The breakthrough for the HDI was the creation of a single statistic which was to serve as a frame of reference for both social and economic development. The HDI sets a minimum and a maximum for each dimension, called goalposts, and then shows where each country stands in relation to these goalposts, expressed as a value between 0 and 1.

The educational component of the HDI is comprised of adult literacy rates and the combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schooling, weighted to give adult literacy more significance in the statistic. Since the minimum adult literacy rate is 0% and the maximum is 100%, the literacy component of knowledge for a country where the literacy rate is 75% would be 0.75, the statistic for combined gross enrolment is calculated in a analogous manner.

The life expectancy component of the HDI is calculated using a minimum value for life expectancy of 25 years and maximum value of 85 years, so the longevity component for a country where life expectancy is 55 years would be 0.5.

For the wealth component, the goalpost for minimum income is $100 (PPP) and the maximum is $40,000 (PPP). The HDI uses the logarithm of income, to reflect the diminishing importance of income with increasing GDP. The scores for the three HDI components are then averaged in an overall index.

The life expectancy component was calculated on the basis of data on life expectancy from UN 2007; data on adult literacy rates from UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2003 and 2007; data on combined gross enrolment ratios from UNESCO Institute for Statistics 1999 and 2007; and data on GDP per capita (2005 PPP US$) from World Bank 2007.

NOTE: The table on this page is re-published from data provided by the United Nations Development Program. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of HDI information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about national human development index should be addressed to the UNDP.