Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic used as an index to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate developed (high development), developing (middle development), and underdeveloped (low development) countries. The statistic is composed from statistics for Life Expectancy, Education, and GDP collected at the national level using the formula.
Origins of the HDI - The origins of the HDI are to be found in the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Human Development Reports (HDRs). 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.’’
The HDI combines three dimensions:
1. Life expectancy at birth (Life Expectancy Index) - as an index of population health and longevity
2. Knowledge and education (Adult Literacy Index (ALI), (Gross Enrollment Index (GEI)) -as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weighting) and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrolment ratio (with one-third weighting).
3. Standard of living (GDP) - as measured by the natural logarithm of gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity.
Rank - Nation - Score
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1. Norway 0.971 (▲ 1)
2. Australia 0.970 (▲ 2)
3. Iceland 0.969 (▼ 2)
4. Canada 0.966 (▼ 1)
5. Ireland 0.965 (▬
6. Netherlands 0.964 (▬
7. Sweden 0.963 (▬
8. France 0.961 (▲ 3)
9. Switzerland 0.960 (▬
10. Japan 0.960 (▬
11. Luxembourg 0.960 (▼ 3)
12. Finland 0.959 (▲ 1)
13. United States 0.956 (▼ 1)
14. Austria 0.955 (▲ 2)
15. Spain 0.955 (▬
16. Denmark 0.955 (▼ 2)
17. Belgium 0.953 (▬
18. Italy 0.951 (▲ 1)
19. Liechtenstein 0.951 (▼ 1)
20. New Zealand 0.950 (▬
21. United Kingdom 0.947 (▬
22. Germany 0.947 (▬
23. Singapore 0.944 (▲ 1)
24. Hong Kong 0.944 (▼ 1)
25. Greece 0.942 (▬
The 2009 report was released on October 5, 2009, and covers the period up to 2007.
Human Development Index - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia