Human development index

Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical tool used to measure a country's overall achievement in its social and economic dimensions. The social and economic dimensions of a country are based on the health of people, their level of education attainment and their standard of living.

Overview

The HDI was developed by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, often in collaboration with Indian economist Amartya Sen and other members of the international development community. The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.

Calculation

The HDI is a composite index of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. The three dimensions are calculated as follows:

• Health – Life expectancy at birth, sourced from the United Nations database.
• Education – Mean years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and expected years of schooling for children of school entering age.
• Standard of living – Gross national income per capita.

Criticism

The HDI has been criticized for not including any ecological considerations, not considering technological development, and that it does not reflect the inequalities in income distribution.

See also

• List of countries by Human Development Index
• Quality of life
• Sustainable Development Goals

References

Human development index Resources
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