Human Development Index
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| high (0.800–1) | medium (0.500–0.799) | low (0.300–0.499) | n/a |
The Human Development Index (HDI) is the measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to determine and indicate whether a country is a developed, developing, or underdeveloped country and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life.[1] The index was developed in 1990 by Indian Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen, Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, with help from Gustav Ranis of Yale University and Lord Meghnad Desai of the London School of Economics and has been used since then by the United Nations Development Programme in its annual Human Development Report. Described by Sen as a "vulgar measure", because of its limitations, it nonetheless focuses attention on wider aspects of development than the per capita income measure it supplanted, and is a pathway for researchers into the wide variety of more detailed measures contained in the Human Development Reports.
The HDI measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development:
- A long and healthy life, as measured by life expectancy at birth.
- Knowledge, 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).
- A decent standard of living, as measured by the log of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) in USD.
Each year, UN member states are listed and ranked according to these measures. Those high on the list often advertise it,[2] as a means of attracting talented immigrants (economically, individual capital) or discouraging emigration.
An alternative measure, focusing on the amount of poverty in a country, is the Human Poverty Index.
Contents |
Methodology
| OECD Central and eastern Europe, and the CIS Latin America and the Caribbean East Asia | Arab States South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa |
In general to transform a raw variable, say <math>x</math>, into a unit-free index between 0 and 1 (which allows different indices to be added together), the following formula is used:
- <math>x</math>-index = <math>\frac{x - \min\left(x\right)} {\max\left(x\right)-\min\left(x\right)}</math>
where <math>\min\left(x\right)</math> and <math>\max\left(x\right)</math> are the lowest and highest values the variable <math>x</math> can attain, respectively.
The Human Development Index (HDI) then represents the average of the following three general indices:
- Life Expectancy Index = <math>\frac{LE - 25} {85-25}</math>
- Education Index = <math>\frac{2} {3} \times ALI + \frac{1} {3} \times GEI</math>
- Adult Literacy Index (ALI) = <math>\frac{ALR - 0} {100 - 0}</math>
- Gross Enrolment Index (GEI) = <math>\frac{CGER - 0} {100 - 0}</math>
- GDP Index = <math>\frac{\log\left(GDPpc\right) - \log\left(100\right)} {\log\left(40000\right) - \log\left(100\right)}</math>
LE: Life expectancy at birth
ALR: Adult literacy rate (ages 15 and older)
CGER: Combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools
GDPpc: GDP per capita at PPP in USD
UNDP has created a technical note on the definition of the HDI (see links below).
Examples
| Index | Measure | Minimum value | Maximum value | Formula |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longevity | Life expectancy at birth (LE) | 25 yrs | 85 yrs | <math>L = \frac{\mathrm{LE}-25}{60}</math> |
| Education | Literacy rate (LR) | 0% | 100% | <math>E = \frac{2\mathrm{LR} + \mathrm{CGER}}{3}</math> |
| Combined gross enrolment ratio (CGER) | 0% | 100% | ||
| GDP | GDP per capita (PPP) | 100 USD | 40,000 USD | <math>G = \frac{\log_{10}\mathrm{GDPpc}-2}{2\mathrm{.}60206}</math> |
2006 report
| 0.950 and over 0.900–0.949 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 | 0.350–0.399 0.300–0.349 under 0.300 N/A |
The report for 2006 was launched in Cape Town, South Africa, on November 9, 2006. Its focus was on "power, poverty and the global water crisis." [1] Most of the data used for the report are derived largely from 2004 or earlier, thus indicating an HDI for 2004. Not all UN member states choose to or are able to provide the necessary statistics.
The report showed a stagnation in world HDI, as the continued improvement of developed countries was offset by a general decline of the developing world. Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia showed an important decline in HDI, in comparison with last year's report. Other developing regions showed little to no improvement.
A HDI below 0.5 is considered to represent low development. 29 of the 31 countries in that category are located in Africa, with the exceptions of Haiti and Yemen. The bottom ten countries are all in Africa. The highest-scoring Sub-Saharan countries, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa, are ranked 120th and 121st, respectively (with a shared HDI of 0.653).
A HDI of 0.8 or more is considered to represent high development. This includes all developed countries, such as those in North America, Western Europe, Oceania, and Eastern Asia, as well as some developing countries in Eastern Europe, Central and South America, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and the oil-rich Arabian Peninsula.
On the following table, green arrows (Image:Green Arrow Up Darker.svg) represent an increase in ranking over the previous study, while red arrows (Image:Red Arrow Down.svg) represent a decrease in ranking. They are followed by the number of spaces they moved. Blue dashes (Image:Straight Line Steady.svg) represent a nation that did not move in the rankings since the previous study.
Top thirty countries (HDI range from 0.965 down to 0.885)
Top/bottom three countries by region
Countries not included
The following countries or territories are not ranked in the 2006 Human Development Index, for being unable or unwilling to provide the necessary data, or for not being recognized as states by the United Nations at the time of publication.
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Past top countries
The number one ranked country in each year of the index. Canada is the highest ranking country, staying at the top ten times, and is followed by Norway, which stayed at the top six times.
References
See also
Template:Global economic classifications
- Freedom House
- Gini coefficient
- Gender-related Development Index
- Gender Empowerment Measure
- Living Planet Index
- Gross national happiness
- Happy Planet Index
- Physical quality-of-life index
- Visa Waiver Program
External links
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