Human Development Index by country 2025

Iceland tops the Human Development Index (HDI) at 0.972, ahead of Norway and Switzerland, tied on 0.970, then Denmark (0.962). The index comes from the United Nations Development Programme: the 2025 report ranks 193 countries on 2023 data, from 0.972 down to 0.388 in South Sudan. It combines three things: a long life, education and income. It therefore answers a different question from GDP, because a very rich country can rank lower when health or schooling lag behind. 74 countries pass 0.800, the line for the "very high" group, and 26 stay under 0.550. The comparison below puts two countries side by side to show where a gap comes from, and each row of the ranking gives the four published components.

First countrySecond country

HDI gap between United States and Switzerland

0.032

HDI components: United States and Switzerland
	United States	Switzerland
Rank	17	2
HDI	0.938	0.970
Life expectancy, years	79.3	84.0
Expected schooling, years	15.9	16.7
Mean schooling, years	13.9	13.9
GNI per capita, PPP $	73,650	81,949

How we calculate

HDI ranking by country

HDI ranking, top 30 countries
Rank, country	HDI	Life, years	GNI p.c.
1. Iceland	0.972	82.7	69,117
2. Norway	0.970	83.3	112,710
2. Switzerland	0.970	84.0	81,949
4. Denmark	0.962	81.9	76,008
5. Germany	0.959	81.4	64,053
5. Sweden	0.959	83.3	66,102
7. Australia	0.958	83.9	58,277
8. Hong Kong	0.955	85.5	69,436
8. Netherlands	0.955	82.2	68,344
10. Belgium	0.951	82.1	63,582
11. Ireland	0.949	82.4	90,885
12. Finland	0.948	81.9	57,068
13. Singapore	0.946	83.7	111,239
13. United Kingdom	0.946	81.3	54,372
15. United Arab Emirates	0.940	82.9	71,142
16. Canada	0.939	82.6	54,688
17. Liechtenstein	0.938	83.6	166,812
17. New Zealand	0.938	82.1	47,260
17. United States	0.938	79.3	73,650
20. South Korea	0.937	84.3	49,726
21. Slovenia	0.931	81.6	46,361
22. Austria	0.930	82.0	63,479
23. Japan	0.925	84.7	47,775
24. Malta	0.924	83.3	52,155
25. Luxembourg	0.922	82.2	85,461
26. France	0.920	83.3	55,060
27. Israel	0.919	82.4	48,050
28. Spain	0.918	83.7	46,008
29. Czechia	0.915	79.8	45,889
29. Italy	0.915	83.7	52,389

Show the full ranking

HDI ranking, the remaining countries
29. San Marino	0.915	85.7	64,706
32. Andorra	0.913	84.0	64,631
32. Cyprus	0.913	81.6	45,394
34. Greece	0.908	81.9	35,761
35. Poland	0.906	78.6	42,218
36. Estonia	0.905	79.2	40,881
37. Saudi Arabia	0.900	78.7	50,299
38. Bahrain	0.899	81.3	52,819
39. Lithuania	0.895	76.0	41,916
40. Portugal	0.890	82.4	41,064
41. Croatia	0.889	78.6	41,380
41. Latvia	0.889	76.2	37,998
43. Qatar	0.886	82.4	105,353
44. Slovakia	0.880	78.3	36,793
45. Chile	0.878	81.2	28,047
46. Hungary	0.870	77.0	37,236
47. Argentina	0.865	77.4	25,876
48. Montenegro	0.862	77.1	28,026
48. Uruguay	0.862	78.1	28,650
50. Oman	0.858	80.0	36,096
51. Türkiye	0.853	77.2	34,507
52. Kuwait	0.852	80.4	56,612
53. Antigua & Barbuda	0.851	77.6	27,387
54. Seychelles	0.848	72.9	29,195
55. Bulgaria	0.845	75.6	32,175
55. Romania	0.845	75.9	39,374
57. Georgia	0.844	74.5	20,753
58. St. Kitts & Nevis	0.840	72.1	29,105
59. Panama	0.839	79.6	34,385
60. Brunei	0.837	75.3	75,827
60. Kazakhstan	0.837	74.4	30,989
62. Costa Rica	0.833	80.8	23,417
62. Serbia	0.833	76.8	23,115
64. Russia	0.832	73.2	39,222
65. Belarus	0.824	74.4	26,725
66. Bahamas	0.820	74.6	30,975
67. Malaysia	0.819	76.7	32,553
68. North Macedonia	0.815	77.4	22,128
69. Armenia	0.811	75.7	20,221
69. Barbados	0.811	76.2	17,328
71. Albania	0.810	79.6	17,627
72. Trinidad & Tobago	0.807	73.5	27,000
73. Mauritius	0.806	74.9	27,280
74. Bosnia & Herzegovina	0.804	77.9	19,827
75. Iran	0.799	77.7	16,096
76. St. Vincent & Grenadines	0.798	71.2	17,247
76. Thailand	0.798	76.4	20,570
78. China	0.797	78.0	22,029
79. Peru	0.794	77.7	14,339
80. Grenada	0.791	75.2	14,349
81. Azerbaijan	0.789	74.4	20,668
81. Mexico	0.789	75.1	21,813
83. Colombia	0.788	77.7	18,666
84. Brazil	0.786	75.8	18,011
84. Palau	0.786	69.3	16,035
86. Moldova	0.785	71.2	15,867
87. Ukraine	0.779	73.4	16,933
88. Ecuador	0.777	77.4	13,986
89. Dominican Republic	0.776	73.7	22,024
89. Guyana	0.776	70.2	46,959
89. Sri Lanka	0.776	77.5	12,616
92. Tonga	0.769	72.9	7,438
93. Maldives	0.766	81.0	19,317
93. Vietnam	0.766	74.6	13,033
95. Turkmenistan	0.764	70.1	17,716
96. Algeria	0.763	76.3	15,114
97. Cuba	0.762	78.1	8,415
98. Dominica	0.761	71.1	16,001
99. Paraguay	0.756	73.8	15,252
100. Egypt	0.754	71.6	16,218
100. Jordan	0.754	77.8	9,222
102. Lebanon	0.752	77.8	11,299
103. St. Lucia	0.748	72.7	20,900
104. Mongolia	0.747	71.7	14,787
105. Tunisia	0.746	76.5	12,011
106. South Africa	0.741	66.1	13,694
107. Uzbekistan	0.740	72.4	8,826
108. Bolivia	0.733	68.6	9,445
108. Gabon	0.733	68.3	18,854
108. Marshall Islands	0.733	66.9	7,224
111. Botswana	0.731	69.2	16,984
111. Fiji	0.731	67.3	12,843
113. Indonesia	0.728	71.1	13,700
114. Suriname	0.722	73.6	17,344
115. Belize	0.721	73.6	12,343
115. Libya	0.721	69.3	19,831
117. Jamaica	0.720	71.5	10,057
117. Kyrgyzstan	0.720	71.7	6,078
117. Philippines	0.720	69.8	10,731
120. Morocco	0.710	75.3	8,653
121. Venezuela	0.709	72.5	7,157
122. Samoa	0.708	71.7	5,952
123. Nicaragua	0.706	74.9	6,881
124. Nauru	0.703	62.1	19,642
125. Bhutan	0.698	73.0	13,843
126. Eswatini	0.695	64.1	9,919
126. Iraq	0.695	72.3	12,654
128. Tajikistan	0.691	71.8	5,747
129. Tuvalu	0.689	67.1	7,006
130. Bangladesh	0.685	74.7	8,498
130. India	0.685	72.0	9,047
132. El Salvador	0.678	72.1	10,595
133. Equatorial Guinea	0.674	63.7	12,762
133. Palestine	0.674	65.2	6,547
135. Cape Verde	0.668	76.1	8,165
136. Namibia	0.665	67.4	10,917
137. Guatemala	0.662	72.6	12,459
138. Congo	0.649	65.8	5,903
139. Honduras	0.645	72.9	6,065
140. Kiribati	0.644	66.5	4,947
141. São Tomé & Príncipe	0.637	69.7	5,583
142. Timor-Leste	0.634	67.7	5,435
143. Ghana	0.628	65.5	6,846
143. Kenya	0.628	63.6	5,608
145. Nepal	0.622	70.4	4,726
146. Vanuatu	0.621	71.5	3,404
147. Laos	0.617	69.0	8,106
148. Angola	0.616	64.6	6,631
149. Micronesia	0.615	67.2	4,246
150. Myanmar (Burma)	0.609	66.9	4,919
151. Cambodia	0.606	70.7	4,931
152. Comoros	0.603	66.8	3,481
153. Zimbabwe	0.598	62.8	3,511
154. Zambia	0.595	66.3	3,447
155. Cameroon	0.588	63.7	4,746
156. Solomon Islands	0.584	70.5	2,777
157. Côte d’Ivoire	0.582	61.9	6,735
157. Uganda	0.582	68.3	2,736
159. Rwanda	0.578	67.8	2,971
160. Papua New Guinea	0.576	66.1	3,971
161. Togo	0.571	62.7	2,856
162. Syria	0.564	72.1	3,918
163. Mauritania	0.563	68.5	6,267
164. Nigeria	0.560	54.5	5,569
165. Tanzania	0.555	67.0	3,515
166. Haiti	0.554	64.9	2,935
167. Lesotho	0.550	57.4	3,029
168. Pakistan	0.544	67.6	5,501
169. Senegal	0.530	68.7	4,202
170. Gambia	0.524	65.9	2,812
171. DR Congo	0.522	61.9	1,431
172. Malawi	0.517	67.4	1,634
173. Benin	0.515	60.8	3,806
174. Guinea-Bissau	0.514	64.1	2,403
175. Djibouti	0.513	66.0	6,368
176. Sudan	0.511	66.3	2,810
177. Liberia	0.510	62.2	1,538
178. Eritrea	0.503	68.6	2,029
179. Guinea	0.500	60.7	3,494
180. Ethiopia	0.497	67.3	2,796
181. Afghanistan	0.496	66.0	1,972
182. Mozambique	0.493	63.6	1,356
183. Madagascar	0.487	63.6	1,656
184. Yemen	0.470	69.3	1,018
185. Sierra Leone	0.467	61.8	1,714
186. Burkina Faso	0.459	61.1	2,391
187. Burundi	0.439	63.7	859
188. Mali	0.419	60.4	2,342
188. Niger	0.419	61.2	1,590
190. Chad	0.416	55.1	1,748
191. Central African Republic	0.414	57.4	1,100
192. Somalia	0.404	58.8	1,475
193. South Sudan	0.388	57.6	688

UNDP, 2025 report, 2023 data. GNI per capita in 2021 PPP dollars. Tied ranks kept as published.

How the HDI is calculated

The index is the geometric mean of three sub-indices: health (life expectancy at birth), education (expected and mean years of schooling) and standard of living (gross national income per capita at purchasing power parity, on a logarithm). A geometric mean stops high income from fully making up for poor health. UNDP recalculates the whole series every year, so two successive reports cannot be compared directly, and only the latest series should be used to follow a trend.

Income rank and HDI rank do not match

Qatar ranks 4 on national income per person but 43 on the HDI. The United States ranks 17, with 79.3 years of life expectancy and 73,650 PPP dollars of income. Since 2010, Eswatini has gained the most points, 0.161, among countries whose series goes back that far. The HDI measures neither inequality, nor net pay, nor safety: for those, see this site's other rankings.

Other rankings

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Questions

Which country has the highest Human Development Index?

Iceland, at 0.972 in UNDP's 2025 report, on 2023 data. Norway and Switzerland share second place on 0.970. These gaps are tiny: at the top of the table, a thousandth of a point can move a country several places without life there being any different.

Where do the UK and the US rank on the HDI?

The United Kingdom ranks 13 of 193 with 0.946, the United States 17 with 0.938 and Canada 16 with 0.939. The comparison on this page gives the four components for all of them, which shows whether a gap comes from health, schooling or income.

What do very high, high, medium and low mean?

UNDP sets four groups: very high from 0.800, high from 0.700 to 0.799, medium from 0.550 to 0.699 and low below 0.550. In this report, 74 countries fall in the first group and 26 in the last. These lines are reading conventions: a country at 0.799 is not really different from one at 0.801.

Is the HDI enough to choose where to move?

No. It describes a national average, two years before publication, and says nothing about the cost of living, tax or a particular city. It is a good first way to place a country. For a real plan, add real net pay, the price level and residence rules, which this site calculates separately.

Sources

Published by Radif Partners

Independent publisher of international tax comparisons built from official tax tables

Updated on November 3, 2026 · Editorial policy · Contact

Figures 2026, checked on November 3, 2026