A ranking of the world’s most developed countries using the latest Human Development Index (HDI) from the UN Development Programme.

Used by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to measure a country’s development, the Human Development Index (HDI) is an index assessing three key dimensions of human development:
1. A long and healthy life measured by life expectancy.
2. Access to education measured by expected years of schooling of children at school-entry age and mean years of schooling of the adult population.
3. A decent standard of living measured by Gross National Income per capita adjusted for the price level of the country.
The HDI was created to shift the assessment of human development away from economic growth alone. The HDI puts emphasis on people and their capabilities, as opposed to their economic situation alone.
Thirty years ago, UNDP created a new way to conceive and measure progress. Instead of using growth in GDP as the sole measure of development, we ranked the world’s countries by their human development: by whether people in each country have the freedom and opportunity to live the lives they value.
– United Nations Development Programme
10 least & most developed countries
Least developed
Human Development Index (HDI) – complete ranking
The table below ranks the world’s countries by their HDI score – the mean of the normalized indices for each of the three key dimensions listed above.
Some countries and territories may have been omitted due to insufficient data.
Very High Human Development
RANK | COUNTRY | HDI |
---|---|---|
1 | Norway | 0.96 |
2 | Ireland | 0.96 |
2 | Switzerland | 0.96 |
4 | Hong Kong, China (SAR) | 0.95 |
4 | Iceland | 0.95 |
6 | Germany | 0.95 |
7 | Sweden | 0.95 |
8 | Australia | 0.94 |
8 | Netherlands | 0.94 |
10 | Denmark | 0.94 |
11 | Finland | 0.94 |
11 | Singapore | 0.94 |
13 | UK | 0.93 |
14 | Belgium | 0.93 |
14 | New Zealand | 0.93 |
16 | Canada | 0.93 |
17 | USA | 0.93 |
18 | Austria | 0.92 |
19 | Israel | 0.92 |
19 | Japan | 0.92 |
19 | Liechtenstein | 0.92 |
22 | Slovenia | 0.92 |
23 | South Korea | 0.92 |
23 | Luxembourg | 0.92 |
25 | Spain | 0.90 |
26 | France | 0.90 |
27 | Czech Rep. | 0.90 |
28 | Malta | 0.90 |
29 | Estonia | 0.89 |
29 | Italy | 0.89 |
31 | UAE | 0.89 |
32 | Greece | 0.89 |
33 | Cyprus | 0.89 |
34 | Lithuania | 0.88 |
35 | Poland | 0.88 |
36 | Andorra | 0.87 |
37 | Latvia | 0.87 |
38 | Portugal | 0.86 |
39 | Slovakia | 0.86 |
40 | Hungary | 0.85 |
40 | Saudi Arabia | 0.85 |
42 | Bahrain | 0.85 |
43 | Chile | 0.85 |
43 | Croatia | 0.85 |
45 | Qatar | 0.85 |
46 | Argentina | 0.85 |
47 | Brunei | 0.84 |
48 | Montenegro | 0.83 |
49 | Romania | 0.83 |
50 | Palau | 0.83 |
51 | Kazakhstan | 0.83 |
52 | Russia | 0.82 |
53 | Belarus | 0.82 |
54 | Turkey | 0.82 |
55 | Uruguay | 0.82 |
56 | Bulgaria | 0.82 |
57 | Panama | 0.82 |
58 | Bahamas | 0.81 |
58 | Barbados | 0.81 |
60 | Oman | 0.81 |
61 | Georgia | 0.81 |
62 | Costa Rica | 0.81 |
62 | Malaysia | 0.81 |
64 | Kuwait | 0.81 |
64 | Serbia | 0.81 |
66 | Mauritius | 0.80 |
High Human Development
67 | Seychelles | 0.80 |
67 | Trinidad & Tobago | 0.80 |
69 | Albania | 0.80 |
70 | Cuba | 0.78 |
70 | Iran | 0.78 |
72 | Sri Lanka | 0.78 |
73 | Bosnia & Herz. | 0.78 |
74 | Grenada | 0.78 |
74 | Mexico | 0.78 |
74 | St. Kitts & Nevis | 0.78 |
74 | Ukraine | 0.78 |
78 | Antigua & Barbuda | 0.78 |
79 | Peru | 0.78 |
79 | Thailand | 0.78 |
81 | Armenia | 0.78 |
82 | North Macedonia | 0.77 |
83 | Colombia | 0.77 |
84 | Brazil | 0.77 |
85 | China | 0.76 |
86 | Ecuador | 0.76 |
86 | St.Lucia | 0.76 |
88 | Azerbaijan | 0.76 |
88 | Dominican Rep. | 0.76 |
90 | Moldova | 0.75 |
91 | Algeria | 0.75 |
92 | Lebanon | 0.74 |
93 | Fiji | 0.74 |
94 | Dominica | 0.74 |
95 | Maldives | 0.74 |
95 | Tunisia | 0.74 |
97 | St. Vincent & Gren. | 0.74 |
97 | Suriname | 0.74 |
99 | Mongolia | 0.74 |
100 | Botswana | 0.74 |
101 | Jamaica | 0.73 |
102 | Jordan | 0.73 |
103 | Paraguay | 0.73 |
104 | Tonga | 0.73 |
105 | Libya | 0.72 |
106 | Uzbekistan | 0.72 |
107 | Bolivia | 0.72 |
107 | Indonesia | 0.72 |
107 | Philippines | 0.72 |
110 | Belize | 0.72 |
111 | Samoa | 0.72 |
111 | Turkmenistan | 0.72 |
113 | Venezuela | 0.71 |
114 | South Africa | 0.71 |
115 | Palestine Territories | 0.71 |
116 | Egypt | 0.71 |
117 | Marshall Islands | 0.70 |
117 | Vietnam | 0.70 |
119 | Gabon | 0.70 |
Medium Human Development
120 | Kyrgyzstan | 0.70 |
121 | Morocco | 0.69 |
122 | Guyana | 0.68 |
123 | Iraq | 0.67 |
124 | El Salvador | 0.67 |
125 | Tajikistan | 0.67 |
126 | Cabo Verde | 0.67 |
127 | Guatemala | 0.66 |
128 | Nicaragua | 0.66 |
129 | Bhutan | 0.65 |
130 | Namibia | 0.65 |
131 | India | 0.65 |
132 | Honduras | 0.63 |
133 | Bangladesh | 0.63 |
134 | Kiribati | 0.63 |
135 | Sao Tome & Principe | 0.63 |
136 | Micronesia | 0.62 |
137 | Laos | 0.61 |
138 | Eswatini | 0.61 |
138 | Ghana | 0.61 |
140 | Vanuatu | 0.61 |
141 | Timor-Leste | 0.61 |
142 | Nepal | 0.60 |
143 | Kenya | 0.60 |
144 | Cambodia | 0.59 |
145 | Equatorial Guinea | 0.59 |
146 | Zambia | 0.58 |
147 | Myanmar | 0.58 |
148 | Angola | 0.58 |
149 | Congo | 0.57 |
150 | Zimbabwe | 0.57 |
151 | Solomon Islands | 0.57 |
151 | Syria | 0.57 |
153 | Cameroon | 0.56 |
154 | Pakistan | 0.56 |
155 | Papua New Guinea | 0.56 |
156 | Comoros | 0.55 |
Low Human Development
157 | Mauritania | 0.55 |
158 | Benin | 0.55 |
159 | Uganda | 0.54 |
160 | Rwanda | 0.54 |
161 | Nigeria | 0.54 |
162 | Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) | 0.54 |
163 | Tanzania | 0.53 |
164 | Madagascar | 0.53 |
165 | Lesotho | 0.53 |
166 | Djibouti | 0.52 |
167 | Togo | 0.52 |
168 | Senegal | 0.51 |
169 | Afghanistan | 0.51 |
170 | Haiti | 0.51 |
170 | Sudan | 0.51 |
172 | Gambia | 0.50 |
173 | Ethiopia | 0.49 |
174 | Malawi | 0.48 |
175 | DR Congo | 0.48 |
175 | Guinea-Bissau | 0.48 |
175 | Liberia | 0.48 |
178 | Guinea | 0.48 |
179 | Yemen | 0.47 |
180 | Eritrea | 0.46 |
181 | Mozambique | 0.46 |
182 | Burkina Faso | 0.45 |
182 | Sierra Leone | 0.45 |
184 | Mali | 0.43 |
185 | Burundi | 0.43 |
185 | South Sudan | 0.43 |
187 | Chad | 0.40 |
188 | Central African Republic | 0.40 |
189 | Niger | 0.39 |
The following countries or territories have been omitted due to insufficient data.