Data for 2017

Human Capital Index, 2017

Name: Human Capital Index, 2017
Creator: World Bank Group
License: https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/public-licenses

Figures for 2017, as World Bank Group published them · stored as published, never rewritten

Human Capital Index, 2017 covers 156 countries. Singapore is highest, at 0.884; Chad is lowest, at 0.293. The middle country reads 0.567. Against 2010, 103 values changed (91 up, 12 down), 53 countries joined.

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Human Capital Index · Data for 2017

HighestSingapore

0.884

LowestChad

0.293

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

156countries
1measure
2017the year it describes
135distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 6, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Human Capital Index, 2017, as published. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 156 countries · select a heading to sort

Human Capital Index, 2017: every country, as published by World Bank Group.
derived
1	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.884
2	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.845
3	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.844
4	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.822
5	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.814
6	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.806
7	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.803
=8	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.800
=8	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.800
10	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.799
11	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.795
12	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.793
13	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.788
14	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.782
15	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.781
16	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.776
17	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.774
18	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.771
19	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.769
=20	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.767
=20	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.767
22	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.765
23	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.763
24	United States`USA`Northern America	0.762
25	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	0.759
26	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.757
27	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.755
28	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.751
=29	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.747
=29	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.747
31	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.746
32	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.743
33	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.740
34	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.729
35	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.724
36	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.723
37	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.712
38	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.703
39	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.701
40	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.694
41	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.692
42	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.681
43	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.678
44	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.676
45	Chile`CHL`South America	0.674
46	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.673
47	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.668
48	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.666
49	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.659
50	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.647
=51	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.626
=51	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.626
=51	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.626
=54	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.622
=54	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.622
56	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.621
57	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.619
58	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.618
=59	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.615
=59	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.615
61	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.614
62	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.613
63	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.611
64	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.607
65	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.604
66	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.602
67	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.601
68	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.600
69	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.597
70	Colombia`COL`South America	0.593
71	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.591
72	Peru`PER`South America	0.586
73	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.585
74	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.584
=75	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.580
=75	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.580
77	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.576
78	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.572
79	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.562
80	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.560
=81	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	0.554
=81	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0.554
83	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.548
84	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.544
85	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.538
86	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.535
87	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.534
=88	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.533
=88	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.533
90	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.532
91	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.531
92	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.523
93	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.518
94	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.512
95	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.508
96	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.501
97	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.500
98	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.495
99	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.493
100	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.492
=101	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.490
=101	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.490
103	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.486
=104	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.479
=104	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	0.479
106	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.473
107	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.471
108	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.460
109	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.453
110	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.452
111	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.446
112	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.443
113	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.441
114	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.440
115	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.439
116	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.435
117	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.434
118	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.424
119	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.420
120	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.418
121	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.413
=122	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.409
=122	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.409
124	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.407
=125	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.406
=125	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.406
127	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.400
128	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.398
129	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.397
130	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.396
131	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.394
=132	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.389
=132	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.389
134	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.385
135	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.384
136	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.382
137	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.380
138	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.379
=139	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.374
=139	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.374
=139	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.374
142	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.371
=143	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.369
=143	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.369
=143	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.369
=146	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.361
=146	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.361
=148	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.353
=148	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.353
150	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.351
151	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.342
152	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.319
153	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.317
154	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.316
155	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.302
156	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.293

02In 2017

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Singapore0.884
2South Korea0.845
3Japan0.844
4Hong Kong0.822
5Finland0.814

Lowest

156Chad0.293
155South Sudan0.302
154Niger0.316
153Mali0.317
152Liberia0.319

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.567. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032010 → 2017

Since 2010

What changed between 2010 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+53 / −0countries joined / left
103values changed, of 103 in both
91 · 12rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Kazakhstan0.594 → 0.746+0.152
Russia0.601 → 0.729+0.128
Macau0.648 → 0.759+0.111
Serbia0.651 → 0.755+0.104
Seychelles0.575 → 0.678+0.103

Fell most

Greece0.715 → 0.681−0.034
South Africa0.425 → 0.406−0.019
Tunisia0.525 → 0.508−0.017
Iceland0.755 → 0.740−0.015
Madagascar0.389 → 0.374−0.015

+ Afghanistan

+ Angola

+ Armenia

+ Bangladesh

+ Bosnia and Herzegovina

+ China

+ DR Congo

+ Comoros

+ Dominican Republic

+ Ethiopia

+ Gabon

+ Ghana

+ Guinea

+ Guyana

+ Honduras

+ Haiti

+ India

+ Iraq

+ Jamaica

+ Kenya

+ Kyrgyzstan

+ Cambodia

+ Kiribati

+ Laos

+ Lebanon

+ Liberia

+ Sri Lanka

+ Mali

+ Myanmar

+ Mongolia

+ Mozambique

+ Mauritania

+ Niger

+ Nigeria

+ Nicaragua

+ Nepal

+ Pakistan

+ Philippines

+ Papua New Guinea

+ Palestine

+ Rwanda

+ Sudan

+ Solomon Islands

+ Sierra Leone

+ El Salvador

+ South Sudan

+ Tajikistan

+ Tonga

+ Tuvalu

+ Tanzania

+ Vanuatu

+ Yemen

+ Zambia

Changes in value, not in places: a country’s place also moves when others do. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

135 distinct values among 156
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.626. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
World Bank Group publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 156 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
156 rows · 4.3 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download human-capital-index-2017-nations-inquiry.csv
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The publisher’s original
World Bank Group’s own file, on its own site.
HD.HCI.OVRL

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

World Bank Group (2017). Human Capital Index, 2017 [data set], describing 2017. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/human-capital-index/2017

064 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Human Capital Index, 2010
103 countries
The year after ›
Human Capital Index, 2018
166 countries
All of them
Human Capital Index: every year
4 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions