Data for 1990

Human Development Index, 1990

Name: Human Development Index, 1990
Creator: UNDP Human Development Report Office
License: https://hdr.undp.org/copyright-and-terms-use

1990, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Human Development Index, 1990 covers 141 countries on 5 measures. United States is highest, at 0.878; Niger is lowest, at 0.215. The middle country reads 0.638.

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Human Development Index · Data for 1990

HighestUnited States

0.878

LowestNiger

0.215

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

141countries
5measures per country
1990the year it describes
126distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 6, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 3.0 IGOlicence

01UNDP Human Development Report Office’s rank

The table

Every country and every column of Human Development Index, 1990, as published. The rank is UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own, as printed. “=” marks a shared position.

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Showing 25 of 141 countries · select a heading to sort

Human Development Index, 1990: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	United States`USA`Northern America	0.878	75.374	15.6005	12.9800	43,041
2	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.867	77.041	17.4329	11.2254	30,554
3	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.865	77.433	16.6897	10.7487	36,258
4	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.858	77.385	13.4963	10.5343	68,592
5	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.856	76.586	14.0118	11.7100	45,194
6	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.855	77.012	14.7745	11.1028	42,020
7	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.853	78.993	13.3988	11.6400	38,205
8	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.844	74.865	14.3133	11.4800	42,093
9	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.841	77.741	14.1439	10.5076	38,975
10	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.834	75.341	14.3768	10.3636	42,722
11	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.832	75.739	13.8404	10.2001	46,156
12	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.824	76.059	14.0954	9.4047	44,656
13	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.823	74.989	15.0528	9.1800	41,408
14	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.819	74.598	16.4078	7.5400	45,792
15	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.818	77.589	12.9498	9.5500	41,337
16	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.812	75.738	13.6414	9.6368	36,613
17	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.811	75.425	14.5910	10.1397	26,496
18	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.798	76.835	13.9843	7.5500	40,765
=19	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.787	78.038	12.1022	9.8994	22,848
=19	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.787	76.994	12.9634	7.4381	42,768
=19	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.787	74.967	10.4989	8.8193	68,166
22	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.781	71.629	12.6011	7.5100	92,865
23	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.776	74.838	12.6789	9.1321	26,779
24	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.770	77.299	12.6183	7.8128	27,322
25	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.767	73.405	12.0822	6.4121	79,350
26	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.766	77.000	14.3566	5.8785	30,217
=27	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.762	70.945	11.2922	10.0100	32,133
=27	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.762	69.279	12.6567	9.6534	30,907
29	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.755	77.448	9.4174	8.6697	35,008
30	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.753	71.409	12.1007	9.1051	26,566
31	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.750	70.354	12.5737	9.2791	23,601
32	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.749	76.044	10.6758	8.2940	28,037
33	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.745	71.369	12.7431	9.1607	18,982
=34	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.738	69.917	13.0800	9.6589	15,783
=34	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.738	70.994	12.9536	9.2700	16,013
36	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.736	69.457	12.6593	9.1575	19,785
37	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.735	76.160	12.5493	6.4638	21,959
=38	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.734	72.587	13.2949	5.1103	40,299
=38	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.734	73.465	12.0217	7.1918	25,959
40	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.733	71.615	13.3925	8.1226	16,406
=41	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.730	73.463	12.9499	8.3686	13,563
=41	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.730	69.372	11.3486	9.4800	21,433
43	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.722	70.606	12.1146	9.6675	12,757
44	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.719	69.841	12.4798	8.4953	16,418
45	Chile`CHL`South America	0.718	73.675	12.7478	8.3848	10,718
=46	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.713	71.074	9.6835	5.7581	100,116
=46	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.713	72.994	12.9683	7.1549	13,637
48	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.707	74.304	11.8383	5.2711	25,879
49	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.706	71.321	12.2990	6.8107	17,729
=50	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.698	72.854	8.9146	5.6392	57,783
=50	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.698	70.819	11.4583	6.8629	19,519
52	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.690	69.312	15.1761	3.8100	18,614
53	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.689	65.701	12.2018	7.5012	18,539
54	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.687	73.823	12.6022	8.7931	5,592
55	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.683	70.008	11.7670	6.5607	15,105
56	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.677	76.094	9.7397	6.8084	11,946
57	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.672	71.266	10.8807	7.4100	10,357
58	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.670	68.874	9.0594	5.5751	42,825
59	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.668	69.034	11.1805	5.9500	17,073
60	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.663	67.733	11.2050	9.7834	6,141
61	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.662	71.705	11.2017	6.6875	9,118
62	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.661	67.591	10.6931	7.2500	12,865
63	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.658	70.964	10.2780	5.3400	18,021
64	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.654	72.710	11.5793	7.3516	5,622
65	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.653	70.952	10.4768	6.1474	11,523
66	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.649	64.825	11.8977	9.1714	6,156
67	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.646	68.445	11.4033	6.7500	8,236
68	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.644	71.339	11.3203	4.6031	12,008
=69	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.641	65.862	14.0951	3.6851	12,178
=69	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.641	67.539	11.4230	9.1202	4,667
71	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.638	69.239	11.4920	8.5251	4,305
72	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.633	62.942	11.9915	6.6996	9,628
73	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.629	65.056	11.6319	6.5989	7,969
74	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.627	69.771	9.9717	5.8600	9,048
75	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.626	64.066	10.8035	5.7387	13,115
76	Peru`PER`South America	0.625	63.979	11.6873	7.7753	5,951
77	Colombia`COL`South America	0.623	68.701	9.1672	6.3470	9,676
78	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.621	60.736	11.0638	4.3200	27,453
79	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.619	70.094	11.3827	5.0049	6,768
80	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.617	69.569	10.1440	5.4530	8,083
81	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.607	67.341	9.1561	5.7446	9,613
82	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.598	67.835	8.9220	4.4570	12,737
83	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.597	61.359	11.6574	5.7010	7,420
84	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.595	67.658	9.7979	3.9171	11,297
=85	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.593	58.817	10.1299	8.4881	5,952
=85	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.593	64.382	10.7340	7.1800	4,278
87	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.590	60.104	10.5922	5.5200	10,046
88	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.589	67.746	9.2925	5.2663	6,963
89	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.584	68.924	8.7608	4.5103	8,479
90	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.573	57.070	11.1111	5.8608	7,640
=91	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.572	62.513	9.2070	5.3027	7,964
=91	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.572	69.830	10.2917	3.7829	5,045
93	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.570	61.167	9.6445	6.2905	5,808
94	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.569	69.092	9.8355	3.4640	6,426
95	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0.566	61.643	9.7704	7.1246	4,001
96	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.552	56.797	11.0446	5.9936	4,886
=97	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.531	63.249	10.1555	3.2200	4,581
=97	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.531	57.587	7.3278	4.8701	10,766
99	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.523	61.981	8.5148	3.7300	5,834
100	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.516	65.183	8.1640	3.8641	3,925
101	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.515	62.473	7.3028	5.5153	3,590
102	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.500	58.319	9.5296	5.0267	2,568
=103	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.499	61.767	6.8996	3.1944	7,346
=103	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.499	69.027	7.6883	4.0987	2,264
105	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.494	62.254	8.4680	5.2713	1,978
106	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.491	68.155	8.6057	4.1400	1,647
107	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.485	58.334	7.8745	3.8380	3,989
108	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.483	59.317	8.9060	4.1126	2,455
109	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.461	53.215	9.2468	2.6802	3,892
110	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.451	62.396	6.3829	2.1100	4,255
111	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.448	54.348	8.2119	2.1374	4,322
112	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.446	58.618	8.2044	2.7806	2,167
113	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.432	55.395	5.6557	4.1831	2,741
114	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.422	48.204	7.7954	4.4800	2,278
115	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.412	54.557	7.3302	2.3171	2,211
116	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.409	54.035	6.4939	3.3656	1,917
117	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.404	54.771	7.2727	2.4674	1,762
118	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.403	59.778	4.6007	2.3946	3,051
119	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.397	55.822	5.5401	3.2971	1,733
=120	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.396	58.087	3.6848	2.2666	5,198
=120	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.396	59.728	4.2382	2.3165	3,138
122	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.389	52.796	5.3486	1.9709	3,673
123	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.388	48.538	6.1918	3.5160	2,105
124	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.387	55.205	6.8852	2.8176	1,210
125	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.381	51.985	5.4080	3.3319	1,725
126	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.379	45.733	5.8346	2.7519	3,622
127	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.377	56.674	4.3162	1.9976	2,925
128	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.359	58.528	5.3936	0.3231	2,528
129	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.351	53.020	4.8150	1.4526	2,227
130	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.347	57.159	6.4408	2.2209	673
=131	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.342	49.854	5.2806	1.8678	1,584
=131	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.342	47.561	5.7450	3.1745	1,060
133	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.331	51.278	3.8443	1.3952	2,616
134	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.313	43.720	4.6620	1.9052	1,771
135	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.306	43.575	5.2958	2.2785	1,054
136	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.294	45.184	4.2189	1.4600	1,356
137	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.285	45.118	2.9365	0.8720	3,642
138	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.282	47.252	2.6941	1.3127	1,993
139	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.246	44.337	3.8713	1.5998	514
140	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.240	46.541	1.9421	0.8443	1,508
141	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.215	41.732	1.9645	0.7282	1,231

02In 1990

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

#1United States0.878
#2Australia0.867
#3Canada0.865
#4Switzerland0.858
#5Norway0.856

Lowest

#141Niger0.215
#140Mali0.240
#139Mozambique0.246
#138Guinea0.282
#137Afghanistan0.285

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.638. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
HighestJapan78.993
LowestNiger41.732
Middle country: 68.874
Expected Years of Schooling
HighestAustralia17.4329
LowestMali1.9421
Middle country: 10.7340
Mean Years of Schooling
HighestUnited States12.9800
LowestYemen0.3231
Middle country: 5.8785
GNI per Capita (2021 PPP $)
HighestUnited Arab Emirates100,116
LowestMozambique514
Middle country: 9,628

03Caveats

Read before you use

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

How values are stored

One year of the 2025 release
Every year in this series comes from UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1990.
126 distinct values among 141
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.787. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The rank is UNDP Human Development Report Office’s
Printed as the publisher ranked the countries; never re-ranked here.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 141 countries has every column.

04The 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
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141 rows · 11 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download human-development-index-1990-nations-inquiry.csv
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The publisher’s original
UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own file, on its own site.
HDR25_Composite_indices_complete_time_series.csv

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 3.0 IGO · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

UNDP Human Development Report Office (1990). Human Development Index, 1990 [data set], describing 1990. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/human-development-index/1990

0534 held

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06Questions