Human Development Index - wikipedia Human Development Index composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income indices World map of countries by Human Development Index categories in increments of 0.050 ( based on 2017 data, published on 14 September 2018 ). ≥ 0.900 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 ≤ 0.399 Data unavailable World map representing Human Development Index categories ( based on 2017 data, published in 2018 ). 1.000 -- 0.800 ( very high ) 0.700 -- 0.799 ( high ) 0.555 -- 0.699 ( medium ) 0.350 -- 0.554 ( low ) Data unavailable The Human Development Index ( HDI ) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. A country scores a higher HDI when the lifespan is higher, the education level is higher, and the GDP per capita is higher. It was developed by Indian Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen and Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, with help from Gustav Ranis of Yale University and Lord Meghnad Desai of the London School of Economics, and was further used to measure the country 's development by the United Nations Development Program ( UNDP ). The 2010 Human Development Report introduced an Inequality - adjusted Human Development Index ( IHDI ). While the simple HDI remains useful, it stated that `` the IHDI is the actual level of human development ( accounting for inequality ) '', and `` the HDI can be viewed as an index of ' potential ' human development ( or the maximum IHDI that could be achieved if there were no inequality ) ''. The index does not take into account several factors, such as the net wealth per capita or the relative quality of goods in a country. This situation tends to lower the ranking for some of the most advanced countries, such as the G7 members and others. The index is based on the human development approach, developed by Ul Haq, often framed in terms of whether people are able to `` be '' and `` do '' desirable things in life. Examples include -- Being : well fed, sheltered, healthy ; Doings : work, education, voting, participating in community life. The freedom of choice is central -- someone choosing to be hungry ( as during a religious fast ) is quite different to someone who is hungry because they can not afford to buy food. Contents 1 Origins 2 Dimensions and calculation 2.1 New method ( 2010 Index onwards ) 2.2 Old method ( before 2010 Index ) 3 2018 Human Development Index 3.1 Inequality - adjusted HDI 4 2016 Human Development Index 4.1 Inequality - adjusted HDI 5 2015 Human Development Index 5.1 Inequality - adjusted HDI 6 2014 Human Development Index 6.1 Countries not included 6.2 Inequality - adjusted HDI 7 Past top countries 7.1 In each original HDI 8 Geographical coverage 9 Country / region specific HDI lists 10 Criticism 10.1 Sources of data error 11 See also 11.1 Indices 11.2 Other 12 References 13 External links Origins Amartya Sen Mahbub ul Haq The origins of the HDI are found in the annual Human Development Reports produced by the Human Development Reports Office of the United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ). These were devised and launched by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq in 1990, and had the explicit purpose `` to shift the focus of development economics from national income accounting to people - centered policies ''. To produce the Human Development Reports, Mahbub ul Haq formed a group of development economists including Paul Streeten, Frances Stewart, Gustav Ranis, Keith Griffin, Farhan C.M, Sudhir Anand, and Meghnad Desai. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen utilized Haq 's work in his own work on human capabilities. Haq believed that a simple composite measure of human development was needed to convince the public, academics, and politicians that they can and should evaluate development not only by economic advances but also improvements in human well - being. The underlying principle behind the Human Development Index. Dimensions and calculation New method ( 2010 Index onwards ) Published on 4 November 2010 ( and updated on 10 June 2011 ), the 2010 Human Development Index ( HDI ) combines three dimensions : A long and healthy life : Life expectancy at birth Education index : Mean years of schooling and Expected years of schooling A decent standard of living : GNI per capita ( PPP US $ ) In its 2010 Human Development Report, the UNDP began using a new method of calculating the HDI. The following three indices are used : 1. Life Expectancy Index ( LEI ) = LE − 20 85 − 20 ( displaystyle = ( \frac ( ( \textrm ( LE ) ) - 20 ) ( 85 - 20 ) ) ) LEI is 1 when Life expectancy at birth is 85 and 0 when Life expectancy at birth is 20. 2. Education Index ( EI ) = MYSI + EYSI 2 ( displaystyle = ( \frac ( ( \textrm ( MYSI ) ) + ( \textrm ( EYSI ) ) ) ( 2 ) ) ) 2.1 Mean Years of Schooling Index ( MYSI ) = MYS 15 ( displaystyle = ( \frac ( \textrm ( MYS ) ) ( 15 ) ) ) Fifteen is the projected maximum of this indicator for 2025. 2.2 Expected Years of Schooling Index ( EYSI ) = EYS 18 ( displaystyle = ( \frac ( \textrm ( EYS ) ) ( 18 ) ) ) Eighteen is equivalent to achieving a master 's degree in most countries. 3. Income Index ( II ) = ln ⁡ ( GNIpc ) − ln ⁡ ( 100 ) ln ⁡ ( 75, 000 ) − ln ⁡ ( 100 ) ( displaystyle = ( \frac ( ln ( ( \textrm ( GNIpc ) ) ) - ln ( 100 ) ) ( ln ( 75,000 ) - ln ( 100 ) ) ) ) II is 1 when GNI per capita is $75,000 and 0 when GNI per capita is $100. Finally, the HDI is the geometric mean of the previous three normalized indices : HDI = LEI ⋅ EI ⋅ II 3. ( displaystyle ( \textrm ( HDI ) ) = ( sqrt ( ( 3 ) ) ( ( \textrm ( LEI ) ) cdot ( \textrm ( EI ) ) cdot ( \textrm ( II ) ) ) ). ) LE : Life expectancy at birth MYS : Mean years of schooling ( i.e. years that a person aged 25 or older has spent in formal education ) EYS : Expected years of schooling ( i.e. total expected years of schooling for children under 18 years of age ) GNIpc : Gross national income at purchasing power parity per capita Old method ( before 2010 Index ) The HDI combined three dimensions last used in its 2009 Report : Life expectancy at birth, as an index of population health and longevity to HDI Knowledge and education, as measured by the adult literacy rate ( with two - thirds weighting ) and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio ( with one - third weighting ). Standard of living, as indicated by the natural logarithm of gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity. HDI trends between 1975 and 2004 OECD Europe not in the OECD and CIS Latin America and the Caribbean East Asia Arab League South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa This methodology was used by the UNDP until their 2011 report. The formula defining the HDI is promulgated by the United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ). In general, to transform a raw variable, say x ( displaystyle 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 = x − a b − a ( displaystyle x ( \text ( index ) ) = ( \frac ( x-a ) ( b-a ) ) ) where a ( displaystyle a ) and b ( displaystyle b ) are the lowest and highest values the variable x ( displaystyle x ) can attain, respectively. The Human Development Index ( HDI ) then represents the uniformly weighted sum with ​ ⁄ contributed by each of the following factor indices : Life Expectancy Index = L E − 25 85 − 25 ( displaystyle ( \frac ( LE - 25 ) ( 85 - 25 ) ) ) Education Index = 2 3 × A L I + 1 3 × G E I ( displaystyle ( \frac ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ) \times ALI+ ( \frac ( 1 ) ( 3 ) ) \times GEI ) Adult Literacy Index ( ALI ) = A L R − 0 100 − 0 ( displaystyle ( \frac ( ALR - 0 ) ( 100 - 0 ) ) ) Gross Enrollment Index ( GEI ) = C G E R − 0 100 − 0 ( displaystyle ( \frac ( CGER - 0 ) ( 100 - 0 ) ) ) GDP = log ⁡ ( G D P p c ) − log ⁡ ( 100 ) log ⁡ ( 40000 ) − log ⁡ ( 100 ) ( displaystyle ( \frac ( log left ( GDPpc \right ) - log left ( 100 \right ) ) ( log left ( 40000 \right ) - log left ( 100 \right ) ) ) ) Other organizations / companies may include other factors, such as infant mortality, which produces a different HDI. 2018 Human Development Index Main article : List of countries by Human Development Index The 2018 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme was released on 14 September 2018, and calculates HDI values based on estimates for 2017. Below is the list of the `` very high human development '' countries : = increase. = steady. = decrease. The number in parentheses represents the number of ranks the country has climbed ( up or down ) relative to the ranking in the year of 2016. Rank Country / Territory HDI 2018 rankings Change in rank from previous year 2018 rankings Change from previous year Norway 0.953 0.002 Switzerland 0.944 0.001 Australia 0.939 0.001 Ireland 0.938 0.004 5 ( 1 ) Germany 0.936 0.002 6 Iceland 0.935 0.002 7 ( 1 ) Hong Kong 0.933 0.003 7 Sweden 0.933 0.001 9 ( 1 ) Singapore 0.932 0.002 10 Netherlands 0.931 0.003 11 ( 1 ) Denmark 0.929 0.001 12 Canada 0.926 0.004 13 ( 1 ) United States 0.924 0.002 14 United Kingdom 0.922 0.002 15 Finland 0.920 0.002 16 New Zealand 0.917 0.002 17 ( 1 ) Belgium 0.916 0.001 17 ( 1 ) Liechtenstein 0.916 0.001 19 Japan 0.909 0.002 20 Austria 0.908 0.002 21 Luxembourg 0.904 0.001 22 Israel 0.903 0.001 22 ( 1 ) South Korea 0.903 0.003 24 France 0.901 0.002 25 Slovenia 0.896 0.002 26 Spain 0.891 0.002 27 Czech Republic 0.888 0.003 28 Italy 0.880 0.002 29 Malta 0.878 0.003 30 Estonia 0.871 0.003 Rank Country HDI 2018 rankings Change in rank from previous year 2018 rankings Change from previous year 31 ( 1 ) Greece 0.870 0.002 32 Cyprus 0.869 0.002 33 ( 1 ) Poland 0.865 0.005 34 ( 1 ) United Arab Emirates 0.863 0.001 35 Andorra 0.858 0.002 35 ( 1 ) Lithuania 0.858 0.003 37 ( 1 ) Qatar 0.856 0.001 38 ( 1 ) Slovakia 0.855 0.002 39 ( 1 ) Brunei 0.853 0.001 39 ( 1 ) Saudi Arabia 0.853 0.001 41 ( 2 ) Latvia 0.847 0.003 41 ( 1 ) Portugal 0.847 0.002 43 ( 2 ) Bahrain 0.846 44 Chile 0.843 0.001 45 Hungary 0.838 0.003 46 Croatia 0.831 0.003 47 Argentina 0.825 0.003 48 ( 1 ) Oman 0.821 0.001 49 Russia 0.816 0.001 50 Montenegro 0.814 0.004 51 ( 1 ) Bulgaria 0.813 0.003 52 Romania 0.811 0.004 53 ( 1 ) Belarus 0.808 0.003 54 ( 1 ) Bahamas 0.807 0.001 55 ( 1 ) Uruguay 0.804 0.002 56 ( 1 ) Kuwait 0.803 0.001 57 Malaysia 0.802 0.003 58 ( 1 ) Barbados 0.800 0.001 58 ( 2 ) Kazakhstan 0.800 0.003 Inequality - adjusted HDI Main article : List of countries by inequality - adjusted HDI The Inequality - adjusted Human Development Index ( IHDI ) is a `` measure of the average level of human development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account ''. The rankings are not relative to the HDI list above due to the exclusion of countries which are missing IHDI data ( p. 30 ). Iceland 0.878 Japan 0.876 Norway 0.876 Switzerland 0.871 Finland 0.868 Sweden 0.864 Germany 0.861 Australia 0.861 Denmark 0.860 Netherlands 0.857 Ireland 0.854 Canada 0.852 New Zealand 0.846 Slovenia 0.846 Czech Republic 0.840 Belgium 0.836 United Kingdom 0.835 Austria 0.835 Singapore 0.816 Luxembourg 0.811 Hong Kong 0.809 France 0.808 Malta 0.805 Slovakia 0.797 United States 0.797 Estonia 0.794 Israel 0.787 Poland 0.787 South Korea 0.773 Hungary 0.773 Italy 0.771 Cyprus 0.769 Latvia 0.759 Lithuania 0.757 Croatia 0.756 Belarus 0.755 Spain 0.754 Greece 0.753 Montenegro 0.741 Russia 0.738 Kazakhstan 0.737 Portugal 0.732 Romania 0.717 Bulgaria 0.710 Chile 0.710 Argentina 0.707 Iran 0.707 Albania 0.706 Ukraine 0.701 Uruguay 0.689 Mauritius 0.683 Georgia 0.682 Azerbaijan 0.681 Armenia 0.680 Barbados 0.669 Countries in the top quartile of HDI ( `` very high human development '' group ) with a missing IHDI : Taiwan, Liechtenstein, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Andorra, Qatar, Brunei, Bahrain, Oman, Bahamas, Kuwait and Malaysia. 2016 Human Development Index Main article : List of countries by Human Development Index The 2016 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme was released on 21 March 2017, and calculates HDI values based on estimates for 2015. Below is the list of the `` very high human development '' countries : = increase. = steady. = decrease. The number in parentheses represents the number of ranks the country has climbed ( up or down ) relative to the ranking in the 2015 report. Rank Country or region Score 2016 estimates for 2015 Change in rank from previous year 2016 estimates for 2015 Change from previous year Norway 0.949 0.001 Australia 0.939 0.002 Switzerland 0.939 0.001 ( 2 ) Germany 0.926 0.002 5 ( 1 ) Denmark 0.925 0.002 5 ( 6 ) Singapore 0.925 0.013 7 ( 1 ) Netherlands 0.924 0.001 8 Ireland 0.923 0.003 9 ( 7 ) Iceland 0.921 0.002 10 ( 1 ) Canada 0.920 0.001 10 ( 2 ) United States 0.920 0.002 12 Hong Kong 0.917 0.001 13 ( 4 ) New Zealand 0.915 0.002 14 ( 1 ) Sweden 0.913 0.004 15 ( 1 ) Liechtenstein 0.912 0.001 16 ( 4 ) United Kingdom 0.909 0.003 17 ( 3 ) Japan 0.903 0.001 18 South Korea 0.901 0.002 19 Israel 0.899 0.001 20 Luxembourg 0.898 0.002 21 ( 1 ) France 0.897 0.003 22 ( 1 ) Belgium 0.896 0.001 23 Finland 0.895 0.002 24 Austria 0.893 0.001 25 ( 2 ) Spain 0.892 0.005 26 Slovenia 0.890 0.002 27 ( 1 ) Italy 0.887 0.006 28 Czech Republic 0.878 0.003 29 Greece 0.866 0.001 30 ( 10 ) Slovakia 0.865 0.020 31 ( 1 ) Estonia 0.865 0.002 32 Andorra 0.858 0.001 33 ( 1 ) Cyprus 0.856 0.002 33 ( 2 ) Malta 0.856 0.003 33 Qatar 0.856 0.001 36 Poland 0.855 0.003 37 Lithuania 0.848 0.002 38 ( 4 ) Chile 0.847 0.002 38 Saudi Arabia 0.847 0.002 41 Portugal 0.843 0.002 42 United Arab Emirates 0.840 0.004 43 Hungary 0.836 0.002 44 Latvia 0.830 0.002 45 ( 5 ) Argentina 0.827 0.001 45 ( 1 ) Croatia 0.827 0.004 47 ( 1 ) Bahrain 0.824 0.001 48 ( 1 ) Montenegro 0.807 0.003 49 ( 1 ) Russia 0.804 0.001 50 ( 1 ) Romania 0.802 0.004 51 ( 1 ) Kuwait 0.800 0.001 Inequality - adjusted HDI Main article : List of countries by inequality - adjusted HDI The Inequality - adjusted Human Development Index ( IHDI ) is a `` measure of the average level of human development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account ''. The rankings are not relative to the HDI list above due to the exclusion of countries which are missing IHDI data ( p. 206 ). Norway 0.898 Iceland 0.868 Australia 0.861 Netherlands 0.861 Germany 0.859 Switzerland 0.859 Denmark 0.858 Sweden 0.851 Ireland 0.850 Finland 0.843 Canada 0.839 Slovenia 0.838 United Kingdom 0.836 Czech Republic 0.830 Luxembourg 0.827 Belgium 0.821 Austria 0.815 France 0.813 United States 0.796 Slovakia 0.793 Japan 0.791 Spain 0.791 Estonia 0.788 Malta 0.786 Italy 0.784 Israel 0.778 Poland 0.774 Hungary 0.771 Cyprus 0.762 Lithuania 0.759 Greece 0.758 Portugal 0.755 South Korea 0.753 Croatia 0.752 Latvia 0.742 Montenegro 0.736 Russia 0.725 Romania 0.714 Argentina 0.698 Chile 0.691 Countries in the top quartile of HDI ( `` very high human development '' group ) with a missing IHDI : Taiwan, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, Brunei, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Andorra, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait. 2015 Human Development Index Main article : List of countries by Human Development Index The 2015 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme was released on 14 December 2015, and calculates HDI values based on estimates for 2014. Below is the list of the `` very high human development '' countries : = increase. = steady. = decrease. The number in brackets represents the number of ranks the country has climbed ( up or down ) relative to the ranking in the 2014 report. Rank Country Score 2015 estimates for 2014 Change in rank from previous year 2015 estimates for 2014 Change from previous year Norway 0.944 0.002 Australia 0.935 0.002 Switzerland 0.930 0.002 Denmark 0.923 5 Netherlands 0.922 0.002 6 Germany 0.916 0.001 6 ( 2 ) Ireland 0.916 0.004 8 ( 1 ) United States 0.915 0.002 9 ( 1 ) Canada 0.913 0.001 9 ( 1 ) New Zealand 0.913 0.002 11 ( 2 ) Singapore 0.912 0.003 12 Hong Kong 0.910 0.002 13 Liechtenstein 0.908 0.001 14 Sweden 0.907 0.002 14 ( 1 ) United Kingdom 0.907 0.005 16 Iceland 0.899 17 South Korea 0.898 0.003 18 Israel 0.894 0.001 18 Macau 0.894 19 Luxembourg 0.892 0.002 20 ( 1 ) Japan 0.891 0.001 21 Belgium 0.890 0.002 22 France 0.888 0.001 23 Austria 0.885 0.001 24 Finland 0.883 0.001 25 Taiwan 0.882 26 Slovenia 0.880 0.001 27 Spain 0.876 0.002 28 Italy 0.873 29 Czech Republic 0.870 0.002 30 Greece 0.865 0.002 31 Estonia 0.861 0.002 32 Brunei 0.856 0.004 33 Cyprus 0.850 33 ( 1 ) Qatar 0.850 0.001 34 Andorra 0.845 0.001 35 ( 1 ) Slovakia 0.844 0.005 36 ( 1 ) Poland 0.843 0.003 37 Lithuania 0.839 0.002 37 Malta 0.839 0.002 39 Saudi Arabia 0.837 0.001 40 Argentina 0.836 0.003 41 ( 1 ) United Arab Emirates 0.835 0.002 42 Chile 0.832 0.002 43 Portugal 0.830 0.002 44 Hungary 0.828 0.003 45 Bahrain 0.824 0.003 46 ( 1 ) Latvia 0.819 0.003 47 ( 1 ) Croatia 0.818 0.001 48 ( 1 ) Kuwait 0.816 49 Montenegro 0.802 0.001 Inequality - adjusted HDI Main article : List of countries by inequality - adjusted HDI The Inequality - adjusted Human Development Index ( IHDI ) is a `` measure of the average level of human development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account ''. Note : The green arrows ( ), red arrows ( ), and blue dashes ( ) represent changes in rank. The rankings are not relative to the HDI list above due to the exclusion of countries which are missing IHDI data ( p. 216 ). Norway 0.893 ( ) Netherlands 0.861 ( 1 ) Switzerland 0.861 ( 1 ) Australia 0.858 ( 2 ) Denmark 0.856 ( 3 ) Germany 0.853 ( 1 ) Iceland 0.846 ( 1 ) Sweden 0.846 ( 1 ) Ireland 0.836 ( 1 ) Finland 0.834 ( 1 ) Canada 0.832 ( 2 ) Slovenia 0.829 ( ) United Kingdom 0.829 ( 3 ) Czech Republic 0.823 ( 1 ) Luxembourg 0.822 ( 1 ) Belgium 0.820 ( 1 ) Austria 0.816 ( 4 ) France 0.811 ( ) Slovakia 0.791 ( 2 ) Estonia 0.782 ( 4 ) Japan 0.780 ( 1 ) Israel 0.775 ( 3 ) Spain 0.775 ( 1 ) Italy 0.773 ( 1 ) Hungary 0.769 ( 2 ) Malta 0.767 ( ) Poland 0.760 ( 2 ) United States 0.760 ( ) Cyprus 0.758 ( 1 ) Greece 0.758 ( 5 ) Lithuania 0.754 ( ) South Korea 0.751 ( 1 ) Portugal 0.744 ( 1 ) Croatia 0.743 ( 1 ) Belarus 0.741 Latvia 0.730 Countries in the top quartile of HDI ( `` very high human development '' group ) with a missing IHDI : Taiwan, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, Brunei, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Andorra, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Cuba, and Kuwait. 2014 Human Development Index The 2014 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme was released on 24 July 2014 and calculates HDI values based on estimates for 2013. Below is the list of the `` very high human development '' countries or regions : = increase. = steady. = decrease. The number in brackets represents the number of ranks the country or region has climbed ( up or down ) relative to the ranking in the 2013 report. Rank Country or Region HDI New 2014 estimates for 2013 Change in rank between 2014 report and 2013 report New 2014 estimates for 2013 Change compared between 2014 report and 2013 report Norway 0.944 0.011 Australia 0.933 0.002 Switzerland 0.917 0.001 Netherlands 0.915 5 United States 0.914 0.002 6 Germany 0.911 7 New Zealand 0.910 0.002 8 Canada 0.902 0.001 9 ( 3 ) Singapore 0.901 0.002 10 Denmark 0.900 11 ( 3 ) Ireland 0.899 0.017 12 ( 1 ) Sweden 0.898 0.001 13 Iceland 0.895 0.002 14 United Kingdom 0.892 0.002 14 Macau 0.892 15 Hong Kong 0.891 0.002 15 ( 1 ) South Korea 0.891 0.003 17 ( 1 ) Japan 0.890 0.002 18 ( 2 ) Liechtenstein 0.889 0.001 19 Israel 0.888 0.002 20 France 0.884 21 Taiwan 0.882 22 Austria 0.881 0.001 22 Belgium 0.881 0.001 22 Luxembourg 0.881 0.001 23 Finland 0.879 24 Slovenia 0.874 25 Italy 0.872 26 Spain 0.869 27 Czech Republic 0.861 28 Greece 0.853 0.001 29 Brunei 0.852 30 Qatar 0.851 0.001 31 Cyprus 0.845 0.003 32 Estonia 0.840 0.001 33 Saudi Arabia 0.836 0.003 34 ( 1 ) Lithuania 0.834 0.003 34 ( 1 ) Poland 0.834 0.001 35 Andorra 0.830 35 ( 1 ) Slovakia 0.830 0.001 36 Malta 0.829 0.002 37 United Arab Emirates 0.827 0.002 38 ( 1 ) Chile 0.822 0.003 38 Portugal 0.822 39 Hungary 0.818 0.001 40 Bahrain 0.815 0.002 40 Cuba 0.815 0.002 41 ( 2 ) Kuwait 0.814 0.001 42 Croatia 0.812 43 Latvia 0.810 0.002 44 Argentina 0.808 0.002 Countries not included Some countries were not included for various reasons, primarily due to the lack of necessary data. The following United Nations Member States were not included in the 2014 report : North Korea, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Nauru, San Marino, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Tuvalu. Inequality - adjusted HDI Main article : List of countries by inequality - adjusted HDI The Inequality - adjusted Human Development Index ( IHDI ) is a `` measure of the average level of human development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account ''. Note : The green arrows ( ), red arrows ( ), and blue dashes ( ) represent changes in rank. The rankings are not relative to the HDI list above due to the exclusion of countries which are missing IHDI data ( p. 168 ). Norway 0.891 ( ) Australia 0.860 ( ) Netherlands 0.854 ( 1 ) Switzerland 0.847 ( 3 ) Germany 0.846 ( ) Iceland 0.843 ( 2 ) Sweden 0.840 ( 4 ) Denmark 0.838 ( 1 ) Canada 0.833 ( 4 ) Ireland 0.832 ( 4 ) Finland 0.830 ( ) Slovenia 0.824 ( 2 ) Austria 0.818 ( 1 ) Luxembourg 0.814 ( 3 ) Czech Republic 0.813 ( 1 ) United Kingdom 0.812 ( 3 ) Belgium 0.806 ( 2 ) France 0.804 ( ) Israel 0.793 ( 1 ) Japan 0.779 ( New ) Slovakia 0.778 ( 1 ) Spain 0.775 ( 2 ) Italy 0.768 ( 1 ) Estonia 0.767 ( 1 ) Greece 0.762 ( 2 ) Malta 0.760 ( 3 ) Hungary 0.757 ( 1 ) United States 0.755 ( 12 ) Poland 0.751 ( 1 ) Cyprus 0.752 ( 1 ) Lithuania 0.746 ( 2 ) Portugal 0.739 ( ) South Korea 0.736 ( 5 ) Latvia 0.725 ( 1 ) Croatia 0.721 ( 4 ) Argentina 0.680 ( 7 ) Chile 0.661 ( 4 ) Countries in the top quartile of HDI ( `` very high human development '' group ) with a missing IHDI : Taiwan, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, Brunei, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Andorra, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Cuba, and Kuwait. Past top countries The list below displays the top - ranked country from each year of the Human Development Index. Norway has been ranked the highest fourteen times, Canada eight times, and Japan three times. Iceland has been ranked highest twice. In each original HDI The year represents when the report was published. In parentheses is the year for which the index was calculated. 2018 ( 2017 ) : Norway 2016 ( 2015 ) : Norway 2015 ( 2014 ) : Norway 2014 ( 2013 ) : Norway 2013 ( 2012 ) : Norway 2011 ( 2011 ) : Norway 2010 ( 2010 ) : Norway 2009 ( 2007 ) : Norway 2008 ( 2006 ) : Iceland 2007 ( 2005 ) : Iceland 2006 ( 2004 ) : Norway 2005 ( 2003 ) : Norway 2004 ( 2002 ) : Norway 2003 ( 2001 ) : Norway 2002 ( 2000 ) : Norway 2001 ( 1999 ) : Norway 2000 ( 1998 ) : Canada 1999 ( 1997 ) : Canada 1998 ( 1995 ) : Canada 1997 ( 1994 ) : Canada 1996 ( 1993 ) : Canada 1995 ( 1992 ) : Canada 1994 ( ? ? ? ? ) : Canada 1993 ( ? ? ? ? ) : Japan 1992 ( 1990 ) : Canada 1991 ( 1990 ) : Japan 1990 ( ? ? ? ? ) : Japan Geographical coverage The HDI has extended its geographical coverage : David Hastings, of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, published a report geographically extending the HDI to 230 + economies, whereas the UNDP HDI for 2009 enumerates 182 economies and coverage for the 2010 HDI dropped to 169 countries. Country / region specific HDI lists African countries Argentine provinces Australian states Brazilian states Canadian provinces and territories Chilean regions Chinese administrative divisions Ethiopian regions European countries German states Indian states Indonesian provinces Iranian provinces Italian regions Japanese prefectures Latin American countries Mexican states Pakistani districts Philippine provinces Russian federal subjects South African provinces Spanish communities U.S. states ( American Human Development Report ( AHDR ) ) Venezuelan states World, regional ( Sub-national HDI by GDL ) Criticism HDI vs. ecological footprint The Human Development Index has been criticized on a number of grounds, including alleged lack of consideration of technological development or contributions to the human civilization, focusing exclusively on national performance and ranking, lack of attention to development from a global perspective, measurement error of the underlying statistics, and on the UNDP 's changes in formula which can lead to severe misclassification in the categorisation of ' low ', ' medium ', ' high ' or ' very high ' human development countries. Sources of data error Economists Hendrik Wolff, Howard Chong and Maximilian Auffhammer discuss the HDI from the perspective of data error in the underlying health, education and income statistics used to construct the HDI. They identified three sources of data error which are due to ( i ) data updating, ( ii ) formula revisions and ( iii ) thresholds to classify a country 's development status and conclude that 11 %, 21 % and 34 % of all countries can be interpreted as currently misclassified in the development bins due to the three sources of data error, respectively. The authors suggest that the United Nations should discontinue the practice of classifying countries into development bins because : the cut - off values seem arbitrary, can provide incentives for strategic behavior in reporting official statistics, and have the potential to misguide politicians, investors, charity donors and the public who use the HDI at large. In 2010, the UNDP reacted to the criticism and updated the thresholds to classify nations as low, medium, and high human development countries. In a comment to The Economist in early January 2011, the Human Development Report Office responded to a 6 January 2011 article in the magazine which discusses the Wolff et al. paper. The Human Development Report Office states that they undertook a systematic revision of the methods used for the calculation of the HDI, and that the new methodology directly addresses the critique by Wolff et al. in that it generates a system for continuously updating the human - development categories whenever formula or data revisions take place. In 2013, Salvatore Monni and Alessandro Spaventa emphasized that in the debate of GDP versus HDI, it is often forgotten that these are both external indicators that prioritize different benchmarks upon which the quantification of societal welfare can be predicated. The larger question is whether it is possible to shift the focus of policy from a battle between competing paradigms to a mechanism for eliciting information on well - being directly from the population. See also Sustainable development portal Indices Bhutan GNH Index Broad measures of economic progress Green national product Green gross domestic product ( Green GDP ) Gender Inequality Index Gender - related Development Index Genuine Progress Indicator ( GPI ) Global Peace Index ( GPI ) Gross National Well - being ( GNW ) Happy Planet Index ( HPI ) Human Poverty Index Inequality - adjusted Human Development Index ( IHDI ) Legatum Prosperity Index List of countries by Human Development Index Living planet index Multidimensional Poverty Index Rule of Law Index OECD Better Life Index ( BLI ) Social Progress Index Where - to - be-born Index World Happiness Report Other Economic development Ethics of care Developing country Happiness economics Human Development and Capability Association International development List of countries by percentage of population living in poverty Right to an adequate standard of living Subjective life satisfaction Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ) References ^ Jump up to : `` Human Development Indices and Indicators 2018 Statistical Update ''. HDRO ( Human Development Report Office ) United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 14 September 2018. Jump up ^ `` Human Development Index ''. Economic Times. ^ Jump up to : `` The Human Development concept ''. UNDP. 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2011. Jump up ^ The Courier. Commission of the European Communities. 1994. ^ Jump up to : `` What is Human Development ''. UNDP. 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017. Jump up ^ `` Human Development Report 2010 ''. UNDP. 4 November 2010. Jump up ^ `` Technical notes '' ( PDF ). UNDP. 2013. Jump up ^ `` New method of calculation of Human Development Index ( HDI ) ''. India Study Channel. 2011 - 06 - 01. Retrieved 2017 - 11 - 19. Jump up ^ Mean years of schooling ( of adults ) ( years ) is a calculation of the average number of years of education received by people ages 25 and older in their lifetime based on education attainment levels of the population converted into years of schooling based on theoretical duration of each level of education attended. Source : Barro, R.J. ; Lee, J. - W. ( 2010 ). `` A New Data Set of Educational Attainment in the World, 1950 -- 2010 ''. NBER Working Paper No. 15902. Jump up ^ ( ESYI is a calculation of the number of years a child is expected to attend school, or university, including the years spent on repetition. It is the sum of the age - specific enrollment ratios for primary, secondary, post-secondary non-tertiary and tertiary education and is calculated assuming the prevailing patterns of age - specific enrollment rates were to stay the same throughout the child 's life. Expected years of schooling is capped at 18 years. ( Source : UNESCO Institute for Statistics ( 2010 ). Correspondence on education indicators. March. Montreal. ) Jump up ^ Definition, Calculator, etc. at UNDP site Archived 20 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine. ^ Jump up to : `` Human Development Report 2016 '' ( PDF ). United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 12 July 2017. Jump up ^ `` Human Development Report 2018 -- `` Human Development Indices and Indicators '' '' ( PDF ). HDRO ( Human Development Report Office ) United Nations Development Programme. pp. 32 -- 35. Retrieved 14 September 2018. Jump up ^ `` Report '' ( PDF ). hdr.undp.org. 2018. ^ Jump up to : `` Human Development Report 2016 -- ' Human Development for everyone ' '' ( PDF ). HDRO ( Human Development Report Office ) United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 21 March 2017. Jump up ^ `` Report '' ( PDF ). hdr.undp.org. 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Statistics '' ( PDF ). hdr.undp.org. 2015. ^ Jump up to : The UN does not calculate the HDI of Macau. The government of Macau calculates its own HDI. Macau in Figures, 2015 ^ Jump up to : Taiwan 's government calculated its HDI to be 0.882, based on 2010 new methodology of UNDP. `` 2011 中華 民國 人類 發展 指數 ( HDI ) '' ( PDF ) ( in Chinese ). Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011. ^ Jump up to : `` Human Development Report 2015 -- ' Sustaining Human Progress : Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience ' '' ( PDF ). HDRO ( Human Development Report Office ) United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 14 December 2015. ^ Jump up to : The UN does not calculate the HDI of Macau. The government of Macau calculates its own HDI. Macau in Figures, 2016 ^ Jump up to : The UN does not recognize the Republic of China ( Taiwan ) as a sovereign state. The HDI report does not include Taiwan as part of the People 's Republic of China when calculating China 's figures. Taiwan 's government calculated its HDI to be 0.882, based on 2010 new methodology of UNDP. `` 2011 中華 民國 人類 發展 指數 ( HDI ) '' ( PDF ) ( in Chinese ). Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011. ^ Jump up to : `` Data '' ( PDF ). hdr.undp.org. 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` Human Development Report 2014 -- ' Sustaining Human Progress : Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience ' ''. HDRO ( Human Development Report Office ) United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 25 July 2014. Jump up ^ Hastings, David A. ( 2009 ). `` Filling Gaps in the Human Development Index ''. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Working Paper WP / 09 / 02. Jump up ^ Hastings, David A. ( 2011 ). `` A `` Classic '' Human Development Index with 232 Countries ``. HumanSecurityIndex.org. Information Note linked to data ^ Jump up to : Wolff, Hendrik ; Chong, Howard ; Auffhammer, Maximilian ( 2011 ). `` Classification, Detection and Consequences of Data Error : Evidence from the Human Development Index ''. Economic Journal. 121 ( 553 ) : 843 -- 870. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1468 - 0297.2010. 02408. x. Jump up ^ `` UNDP Human Development Report Office 's comments ''. The Economist. January 2011. Jump up ^ `` The Economist ( pages 60 -- 61 in the issue of Jan 8, 2011 ) ''. 6 January 2011. Jump up ^ Monni, Salvatore ; Spaventa, Alessandro ( 2013 ). `` Beyond Gdp and HDI : Shifting the focus from Paradigms to Politics ''. Development. 56 ( 2 ) : 227 -- 231. doi : 10.1057 / dev. 2013.30. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Human Development Index. Human Development Index Human Development Tools and Rankings `` Technical note explaining the definition of the HDI '' ( PDF ). ( 5.54 MB ) New demographic datasets by ' Human Development Index ( HDI ) ' An independent HDI covering 232 countries, formulated along the lines of the traditional ( pre-2010 ) approach. 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Question: the united nations measures the average income in countries through a complex index called
Answer: Human Development Index (HDI)