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Photo: Matt Kieffer · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 06 of 12 · Country Index 2026
Marshall Islands: Development & Human Capital
Is a country turning its resources into better lives?
Marshall Islands is placed joint 131st of 194 countries on development & human capital in the Country Index 2026, from 2 of its 3 key statistics. Readings behind it: Maternal Mortality Ratio 154.79 (2023); Human Development Index 0.733 (2023).
Development & Human Capital
joint131st
of 194 countries placed
Placed from 2 of 3 key statistics
Not placed in the Country Index 2026 overall: measured on too few topics.
01The evidence
The 3 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Marshall Islands on development & human capital — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used; the grey ticks are every other country in that edition, lowest on the left.
Key 1 of 3
Maternal Mortality Ratio
UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG)
Why it is a key: Whether a woman survives giving birth — the reach of a health system at the moment it is hardest to fake.
2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 3.0 IGO
154.79
Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births
Lower is better
Marshall Islands: 154.79. Across the 195 countries in this edition, values run from 0.11 (Cook Islands) to 992.83 (Nigeria); the world median is 46.65.
- World median
- 46.65
- Best in Micronesia
- 79.76 Kiribati
Each grey tick is one of 195 countries in the 2023 edition.
Key 2 of 3
Human Development Index
UNDP Human Development Report Office
Why it is a key: The standard composite of health, schooling and income, carrying UNDP's own published rank.
2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 3.0 IGO
0.733
HDI score (0–1)
Higher is better
Ranked 108th of 193 by UNDP Human Development Report Office
Marshall Islands: 0.733. Across the 193 countries in this edition, values run from 0.388 (South Sudan) to 0.972 (Iceland); the world median is 0.762.
- World median
- 0.762
- Best in Micronesia
- 0.786 Palau
Each grey tick is one of 193 countries in the 2023 edition.
Key 3 of 3
Cereal Yield
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Why it is a key: How much food a hectare of land produces: the clearest single measure of agricultural productivity.
2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 4.0
No reading
Cereal yield (kg per hectare)
Higher is better
FAO publishes no 2023 figure for Marshall Islands, so the standing rests on the other keys.
Across the 179 countries in this edition, values run from 23 (Cabo Verde) to 29,147 (Oman); the world median is 3,072.
- World median
- 3,072
- Best in Micronesia
- 1,713 Micronesia
Each grey tick is one of 179 countries in the 2023 edition.
02Over time
Which way Marshall Islands is moving
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
Maternal Mortality Ratio
Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births · lower is better
Marshall IslandsWorld median
Marshall Islands fell from 250.65 in 2000 to 154.79 in 2023; the world median went from 70.99 to 46.65.
Every year’s figures
Year Marshall Islands World median 2023 155 46.7 2022 174 53.0 2021 206 76.6 2020 178 56.0 2019 168 48.4 2018 167 49.3 2017 179 47.2 2016 183 50.6 2015 184 51.9 2014 199 52.8 2013 201 53.3 2012 207 54.6 2011 209 55.0 2010 212 56.1 2009 224 56.3 2008 226 55.8 2007 229 56.8 2006 233 58.1 2005 234 60.1 2004 238 63.0 2003 221 66.8 2002 223 66.0 2001 231 68.1 2000 251 71.0 Human Development Index
HDI score (0–1) · higher is better
Marshall IslandsWorld median
Marshall Islands rose from 0.666 in 2011 to 0.733 in 2023; the world median went from 0.725 to 0.762.
Every year’s figures
Year Marshall Islands World median 2023 0.733 0.7620 2022 0.732 0.7610 2021 0.723 0.7450 2020 0.722 0.7425 2019 0.722 0.7515 2018 0.710 0.7520 2017 0.702 0.7480 2016 0.696 0.7500 2015 0.691 0.7430 2014 0.681 0.7410 2013 0.676 0.7390 2012 0.668 0.7350 2011 0.666 0.7250 2010 — 0.7250 2009 — 0.7220 2008 — 0.7180 2007 — 0.7100 2006 — 0.7045 2005 — 0.6960 2004 — 0.6960 2003 — 0.6910 2002 — 0.6845 2001 — 0.6770 2000 — 0.6720
03In context
Marshall Islands beside its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 194 countries on development & human capital, never a place within the region.
1st194thNot placed · 30 countries with too few key statisticsNo data
Marshall Islands and Micronesia
Marshall Islands has no land border, so the table compares it with its sub-region. The standing is each country’s place among all 194 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.
| Country | Standing | Maternal Mortality RatioMaternal deaths per 100,000 live births | Human Development IndexHDI score (0–1) | Cereal YieldCereal yield (kg per hectare) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Palau | 111th | 89.42 | 0.786 | — |
| Marshall Islands | =131st | 154.79 | 0.733 | — |
 Kiribati | 136th | 79.76 | 0.644 | — |
 Micronesia | 150th | 128.75 | 0.615 | 1,713 |
 Nauru | 152nd | 273.38 | 0.703 | — |
 Guam | not placed | — | — | — |
 Northern Mariana Islands | not placed | — | — | — |
“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.
Across Micronesia
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 194.
Placed either side on development & human capital
The countries immediately above and below Marshall Islands in the topic’s list.
Samoa=128th
Syria=128th
Myanmar130th- Marshall Islands=131st
Nepal=131st
Bolivia133rd
São Tomé and Príncipe134th
04Context, no vote
Where Marshall Islands is ahead of the world, and behind
21 more statistics filed under development & human capital, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Ahead of the world median5
Statistics on which Marshall Islands does better than the middle country measured.
Expected Years of SchoolingUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 13.3416.3913.34▲ Improved since 2013
Marshall Islands: 16.39 · world median 13.34 · Expected years of schooling. UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 5.635 to 21.69; higher is better.
Position 38th of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Mean Years of SchoolingUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 9.93311.649.933No real change since 2013
Marshall Islands: 11.64 · world median 9.933 · Mean years of schooling (adults 25+). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 1.412 to 14.3; higher is better.
Position 50th of 193 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 17.0514.3117.05No real change since 2020
Marshall Islands: 14.31 · world median 17.05 · Coefficient of Human Inequality (%). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 4.865 to 43.08; lower is better.
Position 102nd of 169 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Exclusive Breastfeeding Under Six MonthsUNICEF · 2024 · world median 40.7443.1240.74No earlier reading
Marshall Islands: 43.12 · world median 40.74 · Infants under 6 months exclusively breastfed (%). UNICEF, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 3.497 to 83.3; higher is better.
Position 62nd of 136 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 0.6090.6260.609No real change since 2020
Marshall Islands: 0.626 · world median 0.609 · IHDI (0–1). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.226 to 0.923; higher is better.
Position 81st of 169 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Behind the world median14
Statistics on which Marshall Islands does worse than the middle country measured.
Gender Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 0.9710.960.971▲ Improved since 2013
Marshall Islands: 0.96 · world median 0.971 · Gender Development Index (1.000 = parity). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.407 to 1.038; higher is better.
Position 105th of 184 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Access to ElectricityWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median 10097.2100▼ Worsened since 2014
Marshall Islands: 97.2 · world median 100 · Population with electricity access (%). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 5.4 to 100; higher is better.
Social Protection CoverageILO · 2025 · world median 52.125.252.1No earlier reading
Marshall Islands: 25.2 · world median 52.1 · Population covered by at least one social protection benefit (%). International Labour Organization (ILO), 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 100; higher is better.
Child MarriageUNICEF · 2025 · world median 17.126.317.1No earlier reading
Marshall Islands: 26.3 · world median 17.1 · Women 20–24 married before 18 (%). UNICEF, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 76.3; lower is better.
Position 46th of 143 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Under-Five Mortality RateUN IGME · 2024 · world median 14.5426.7414.54No real change since 2014
Marshall Islands: 26.74 · world median 14.54 · Deaths before age five (per 1,000 live births). UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 1.26 to 115.65; lower is better.
Position 62nd of 200 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
GDP per Capita (PPP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 17,2657,66017,265▲ Improved since 2015
Marshall Islands: 7,660 · world median 17,265 · GDP per capita (constant 2021 international $, PPP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 1,067 to 139,593; higher is better.
Position 133rd of 185 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Completeness of Birth RegistrationUNICEF · 2025 · world median 98.483.898.4No earlier reading
Marshall Islands: 83.8 · world median 98.4 · Children under 5 whose birth is registered (%). UNICEF, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 2.7 to 100; higher is better.
Human Capital IndexWorld Bank Group · 2020 · world median 0.5640.4230.564▲ Improved since 2018
Marshall Islands: 0.423 · world median 0.564 · HCI score (0–1). World Bank Group, 2020 edition, data for 2020.
Published values in that edition run from 0.292 to 0.879; higher is better.
Position 134th of 172 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Life Expectancy at BirthUN DESA Population Division · 2023 · world median 74.6366.9574.63▼ Worsened since 2013
Marshall Islands: 66.95 · world median 74.63 · Years a newborn would live at current death rates. UN DESA Population Division, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 54.46 to 86.37; higher is better.
Position 181st of 222 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Country Policy and Institutional AssessmentWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median 3.2462.7333.246▲ Improved since 2015
Marshall Islands: 2.733 · world median 3.246 · IDA Resource Allocation Index (1 = low to 6 = high). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 1.617 to 4.225; higher is better.
Position 66th of 78 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Crop Production IndexFAO · 2022 · world median 106.2390.84106.23▼ Worsened since 2012
Marshall Islands: 90.84 · world median 106.23 · Crop production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 53.79 to 189.93; higher is better.
Position 169th of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Food Production IndexFAO · 2022 · world median 106.0890.84106.08▼ Worsened since 2012
Marshall Islands: 90.84 · world median 106.08 · Food production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 71.08 to 177.49; higher is better.
Position 170th of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Stunting Prevalence in Children Under FiveUNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 2024 · world median 13.834.7813.8No earlier reading
Marshall Islands: 34.78 · world median 13.8 · Children under 5 who are stunted (%). UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0.518 to 52.8; lower is better.
Position 20th of 162 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Statistical Performance IndicatorsWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median 69.343.5469.3▲ Improved since 2016
Marshall Islands: 43.54 · world median 69.3 · SPI overall score (0–100). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 27.12 to 94.14; higher is better.
Position 173rd of 188 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No better end2
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
Net Official Development Assistance ReceivedOECD Development Assistance Committee · 2023 · world median 2.57939.772.579No real change since 2013
Marshall Islands: 39.77 · world median 2.579 · Net ODA received (% of GNI). OECD Development Assistance Committee, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from -0.001 to 101.78.
Position 2nd of 130 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Arable Land per PersonFAO · 2023 · world median 0.1090.0130.109No real change since 2013
Marshall Islands: 0.013 · world median 0.109 · Arable land (hectares per person). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 1.459.
Position 187th of 206 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No current reading for Marshall Islands
Account Ownership at a Financial Institution, Agricultural Irrigated Land, Agriculture Orientation Index (last 2019), Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Value Added (% of GDP) (last 2024), Cereal Import Dependency Ratio (last 2021), Cereal Yield, Children with Functional Difficulties, Cost of Sending Remittances, Dietary Energy Supply, Gender Inequality Index, Gini Index (last 2019), Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, Global Report on Food Crises, GNI per Capita (PPP) (last 2024), Household Consumption (last 2024), Income Share Held by Lowest 20% (last 2019), Land Under Cereal Production, Livestock Production Index, Manufacturing Value Added (% of GDP) (last 2024), Organic Agricultural Area, Planetary pressures-adjusted HDI, Poverty Gap at $3.00 a Day (last 2019), Poverty Headcount Ratio at $3.00 a Day (last 2019), Poverty Headcount Ratio at $8.30 a Day (last 2019), Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, Prevalence of Undernourishment, Prosperity Gap (last 2019), Violent Discipline of Children and Water Withdrawal by Sector. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Development & Human Capital among Marshall Islands’s 5 topics
Development & Human Capital is Marshall Islands’s 3rd best-placed topic of 5. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.
- Democracy & Civil Liberties30th of 1982/3 keys
- Risk & Resilience51st of 1912/3 keys
- Development & Human Capitaljoint 131st of 1942/3 keys
- Health & Wellbeingjoint 157th of 2012/4 keys
- Governance & Institutions168th of 1933/5 keys
No standing on Economy & Innovation, Work & Labour, Education & Knowledge, Environment & Sustainability, Gender & Equality, Peace & Security, Mobility & Connectivity: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.
06The top of the list
Who leads on development & human capital
The three countries placed highest of 194, and the leaders Marshall Islands can most readily be measured against.
1
United Arab EmiratesWestern Asia
1st of 194 · 3 of 3 keys
Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2
BelgiumWestern Europe
2nd of 194 · 3 of 3 keys
Photo: Gf uip · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3
GermanyWestern Europe
3rd of 194 · 3 of 3 keys
Placed highest nearby
Highest in Oceania
New Zealand10th3/3 keysHighest in Micronesia
Palau111th2/3 keysThis page
Marshall Islands=131st2/3 keys
Positions out of 194 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Analysis
Charts and analysis about Marshall Islands and development & human capital
On development & human capital
Global Hunger Index 2025: Countries with the Most Alarming Hunger Crisis
Thirteen countries scored across four editions — 2000, 2008, 2016 and 2025 — and five the report could not score at all. DR Congo and South Sudan share 121st place on 37.5.
On development & human capital
India vs Pakistan 2025: Comparison of Hunger Index, Happiness, HDI, Rule of Law, Literacy & GDP
India and Pakistan on six published measures: hunger, happiness, human development, rule of law, literacy and GDP per capita. India is the better placed on five of them; Pakistan on one.
08Questions
Marshall Islands on development & human capital: questions answered
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
How does Marshall Islands rank on development & human capital?
Marshall Islands is placed joint 131st of 194 countries on Development & Human Capital in the Country Index 2026, from 2 of its 3 key statistics (Maternal Mortality Ratio and Human Development Index). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
What is the latest Maternal Mortality Ratio figure for Marshall Islands?
154.79 in 2023 (maternal deaths per 100,000 live births), according to UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG). The world median in the same edition was 46.65.
What is the latest Human Development Index figure for Marshall Islands?
0.733 in 2023 (hDI score (0–1)), according to UNDP Human Development Report Office. The world median in the same edition was 0.762.
How have Marshall Islands’s development & human capital figures changed?
Maternal Mortality Ratio fell from 250.65 in 2000 to 154.79 in 2023; Human Development Index rose from 0.666 in 2011 to 0.733 in 2023.
Which development & human capital statistics are missing for Marshall Islands?
No current reading is published for Marshall Islands on Account Ownership at a Financial Institution, Agricultural Irrigated Land, Agriculture Orientation Index, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Value Added (% of GDP), Cereal Import Dependency Ratio, Cereal Yield, Children with Functional Difficulties, Cost of Sending Remittances, Dietary Energy Supply, Gender Inequality Index, Gini Index, Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, Global Report on Food Crises, GNI per Capita (PPP), Household Consumption, Income Share Held by Lowest 20%, Land Under Cereal Production, Livestock Production Index, Manufacturing Value Added (% of GDP), Organic Agricultural Area, Planetary pressures-adjusted HDI, Poverty Gap at $3.00 a Day, Poverty Headcount Ratio at $3.00 a Day, Poverty Headcount Ratio at $8.30 a Day, Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity, Prevalence of Undernourishment, Prosperity Gap, Violent Discipline of Children and Water Withdrawal by Sector. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
09Keep reading
Explore further
Marshall Islands, topic by topic
Nearby, on development & human capital
The key statistics, for every country
10Method
Method, sources and how to cite
What this topic does not measure
Poverty lines, inequality and aid received are published here as context rather than as keys, often because they cover fewer countries or are measured too rarely. Development is also not the same as economic size or growth, which belong to Economy & Innovation.
How the Development & Human Capital standing is decided, step by step
A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.
- A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 3 indicators on this topic are keys and 49 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
- Each key is read at one edition. All of them describe 2023.
- Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
- Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
- The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
- A country needs 2 of this topic’s 3 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 194 countries clear the bar here.
- A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 3.
- A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.
The key statistics and their licences
- Maternal Mortality Ratio — UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG), CC BY 3.0 IGO
- Human Development Index — UNDP Human Development Report Office, CC BY 3.0 IGO
- Cereal Yield — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), CC BY 4.0
The other 21 statistics on this page come from 9 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photographs
Marshall Islands’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Marshall Islands (banner) — Matt Kieffer, CC BY-SA 2.0
- United Arab Emirates — Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Belgium — Gf uip, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Germany — dronepicr, CC BY 2.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Marshall Islands: Development & Human Capital — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/marshall-islands/development