In the report published in 2025 the human development index fluctuated between Iceland with an index of 0.972 in first position to South Sudan's 0.388 in 193rd place.

The UNDP divides countries into four major categories of human development, according to the following table:

Since the 2012 report, countries are separated by very high, high, medium and low HDI quartiles.

In the latest report, a country with a very high HDI is not classified as a developed country, but rather several other factors are taken into account.

The HDI emerged as an initiative by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq to classify countries based on variables other than those traditionally used in economics (gross domestic product, trade balance, energy consumption, unemployment, etc.), in education (literacy rate, number of students enrolled according to educational level, etc.), in health (birth rate, life expectancy, etc.) or in other areas (military spending). The HDI seeks to measure these variables through a composite index, through indicators that are related in the three aspects mentioned in synoptical form.

It has been calculated since 1990 by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) according to the research work of Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq carried out in 1990. It is largely based on the ideas developed by Amartya Sen.

Contenido

Cada uno de los componentes se expresa con un valor entre 0 y 1, para lo cual se utiliza la siguiente fórmula general total.

New methodology

Since the 2010 report, the UNDP uses a new method to calculate the HDI, in which the minimum GNI is 100 USD, the minimum for both education indicators is 0, and the minimum life expectancy is 20 years:

Old methodology

The following is an example of its calculation taking as reference the values ​​for Spain in the 2007 report (life expectancy at birth of 80.5 years; adult literacy rate of 99%;[5]​ gross enrollment rate of 98%; GDP PPP per capita of $27,169 US):.

In addition to the HDI, the following indices are calculated:

Previously they were prepared:

Process by which a society improves the living conditions of its citizens through an increase in the goods with which they can cover their basic and complementary needs, and the creation of an environment in which the human rights of all of them are respected.

It is the number of options that a human being has in his own environment, to be or do what he wants. The greater the number of options, the greater the human development, the less the number of options, the less human development. Human Development could also be defined as a way of measuring the quality of life of human beings in the environment in which they operate, and a fundamental variable for the qualification of a country or region.

In the report published in 2025 the human development index fluctuated between Iceland with an index of 0.972 in first position to South Sudan's 0.388 in 193rd place.

The UNDP divides countries into four major categories of human development, according to the following table:

Since the 2012 report, countries are separated by very high, high, medium and low HDI quartiles.

In the latest report, a country with a very high HDI is not classified as a developed country, but rather several other factors are taken into account.

The HDI emerged as an initiative by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq to classify countries based on variables other than those traditionally used in economics (gross domestic product, trade balance, energy consumption, unemployment, etc.), in education (literacy rate, number of students enrolled according to educational level, etc.), in health (birth rate, life expectancy, etc.) or in other areas (military spending). The HDI seeks to measure these variables through a composite index, through indicators that are related in the three aspects mentioned in synoptical form.

It has been calculated since 1990 by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) according to the research work of Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq carried out in 1990. It is largely based on the ideas developed by Amartya Sen.

Contenido

Cada uno de los componentes se expresa con un valor entre 0 y 1, para lo cual se utiliza la siguiente fórmula general total.

New methodology

Since the 2010 report, the UNDP uses a new method to calculate the HDI, in which the minimum GNI is 100 USD, the minimum for both education indicators is 0, and the minimum life expectancy is 20 years:

Old methodology

The following is an example of its calculation taking as reference the values ​​for Spain in the 2007 report (life expectancy at birth of 80.5 years; adult literacy rate of 99%;[5]​ gross enrollment rate of 98%; GDP PPP per capita of $27,169 US):.

In addition to the HDI, the following indices are calculated:

Previously they were prepared: