Data for 1991

Human Development Index, 1991

Name: Human Development Index, 1991
Creator: UNDP Human Development Report Office
License: https://hdr.undp.org/copyright-and-terms-use

1991, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Human Development Index, 1991 covers 141 countries on 5 measures. United States is highest, at 0.878; Niger is lowest, at 0.219. The middle country reads 0.642. Against 1990, 135 values changed (107 up, 28 down), the same countries are covered.

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Human Development Index · Data for 1991

HighestUnited States

0.878

LowestNiger

0.219

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

141countries
5measures per country
1991the year it describes
130distinct 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, 1991, 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, 1991: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	United States`USA`Northern America	0.878	75.524	15.533	13.0275	42,524
=2	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.868	77.481	17.432	11.2474	29,765
=2	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.868	77.594	16.970	10.9200	35,007
4	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.863	77.038	14.332	11.7471	45,950
=5	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.860	77.162	15.013	11.1651	42,899
=5	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.860	77.648	13.605	10.5240	67,185
7	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.857	79.262	13.530	11.6845	39,216
8	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.853	77.757	15.233	10.6243	38,721
9	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.848	75.227	14.478	11.5000	42,358
10	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.841	75.560	14.565	10.5739	44,028
11	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.835	75.792	13.935	10.2900	47,018
12	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.829	76.199	14.179	9.5452	45,473
13	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.827	75.407	15.271	9.4038	38,352
14	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.826	75.058	16.446	7.7680	47,107
15	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.821	77.728	13.116	9.7100	40,404
16	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.816	75.911	13.919	9.7258	36,184
17	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.813	76.079	14.648	10.4000	24,022
18	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.807	77.016	14.469	7.7421	40,714
19	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.796	74.964	10.797	8.9900	72,606
20	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.792	76.990	13.159	7.5687	43,304
21	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.791	77.583	12.337	9.9658	23,790
22	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.782	71.858	12.408	7.6200	92,971
=23	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.780	77.386	13.215	7.9400	28,154
=23	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.780	75.027	12.741	9.2700	27,250
25	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.774	77.129	14.615	6.0700	31,130
26	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.768	73.654	11.864	6.5456	75,442
27	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.764	77.693	9.690	8.8500	36,368
28	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.762	71.183	11.309	10.1130	30,158
29	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.758	68.997	12.435	9.8419	29,269
30	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.754	76.246	10.837	8.4505	27,541
31	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.751	71.970	12.022	9.2900	23,475
32	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.749	71.402	13.196	9.4160	17,586
33	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.743	69.688	12.491	9.4618	21,401
34	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.742	76.488	12.757	6.5733	22,831
35	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.739	72.020	13.352	8.1900	17,857
36	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.738	70.510	12.526	9.3339	17,900
37	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.736	73.475	12.128	7.5100	23,637
38	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.734	69.795	12.781	9.9038	14,560
39	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.733	69.182	12.524	9.4797	17,783
40	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.732	73.543	13.087	8.4991	13,030
41	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.728	72.668	12.500	5.3900	39,807
=42	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.724	69.441	11.310	9.5491	18,521
=42	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.724	71.144	10.060	6.0567	94,282
44	Chile`CHL`South America	0.723	74.082	12.737	8.4642	11,379
45	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.720	70.653	12.145	9.8553	11,629
46	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.718	74.241	12.341	5.4400	27,125
47	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.717	73.198	13.056	7.1930	14,203
48	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.706	71.194	12.355	7.0848	16,483
49	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.705	70.046	11.465	8.5921	14,469
50	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.700	69.635	15.254	3.9860	21,057
51	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.697	70.921	11.581	7.1600	16,557
=52	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.685	73.310	8.510	5.6761	44,934
=52	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.685	70.309	11.816	6.6500	14,940
54	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.683	65.379	12.066	7.7285	16,389
55	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.682	76.237	9.978	6.8996	12,027
=56	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.681	73.757	12.527	8.9408	4,967
=56	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.681	69.341	9.285	5.6755	47,331
58	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.674	71.331	10.826	7.4570	10,789
59	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.670	69.368	11.028	6.0210	17,503
60	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.669	71.172	10.540	5.5882	19,309
61	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.665	67.782	10.635	7.4194	13,033
62	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.662	71.787	11.123	6.7700	9,134
63	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.661	71.219	10.622	6.3413	12,172
64	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.652	67.801	10.749	9.8533	5,318
=65	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.649	69.040	11.242	6.8071	8,553
=65	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.649	67.749	11.610	9.3048	4,919
67	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.647	71.752	11.253	4.7794	11,764
=68	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.645	66.203	14.144	3.8310	12,142
=68	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.645	66.233	10.899	6.0215	14,223
70	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.643	64.940	11.668	9.2871	5,570
71	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.642	69.131	11.578	8.7133	4,444
72	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.641	62.983	12.472	7.0568	9,311
73	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.638	73.001	11.781	7.3497	3,969
74	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.633	65.457	11.678	6.8228	7,747
75	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.632	70.051	10.103	5.9040	9,393
76	Colombia`COL`South America	0.630	68.772	9.699	6.3976	9,723
77	Peru`PER`South America	0.628	64.248	11.634	7.8331	6,178
78	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.627	60.891	11.107	4.5000	28,430
79	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.626	69.645	10.306	5.6200	8,843
80	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.625	70.240	11.685	5.2833	6,448
81	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.613	67.676	9.445	5.8464	9,514
=82	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.602	60.833	12.058	5.7100	7,884
=82	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.602	68.287	9.085	4.5121	12,584
84	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.596	67.692	9.824	4.1002	10,716
=85	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.594	68.154	9.462	5.3975	6,920
=85	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.594	64.622	10.758	7.2190	4,270
87	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.593	69.132	9.051	4.6281	9,036
88	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.591	59.818	9.677	8.5146	5,699
89	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.590	58.911	10.552	5.7580	10,800
90	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.578	63.059	9.250	5.4659	8,122
91	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.577	70.075	10.330	3.8800	5,263
92	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.575	69.398	9.925	3.6054	6,490
93	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.571	56.764	10.849	6.0397	7,696
94	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0.570	61.809	9.843	7.2400	4,069
95	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.565	60.392	9.573	6.2587	5,717
96	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.561	57.439	11.311	6.1008	5,071
97	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.538	63.703	9.956	3.4931	4,913
98	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.529	62.542	8.662	3.8481	5,845
99	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.526	63.310	7.832	5.6421	3,505
100	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.519	65.584	8.222	3.9437	3,934
101	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.509	69.303	8.001	4.2360	2,375
102	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.504	61.338	7.430	4.9389	3,612
103	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.503	61.926	6.943	3.2698	7,526
104	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.502	57.037	9.931	5.1713	2,640
105	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.499	68.610	8.596	4.3380	1,772
106	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.491	62.463	8.627	5.3414	1,766
107	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.485	57.826	7.947	4.0072	3,902
108	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.482	59.061	9.012	4.1956	2,360
109	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.464	53.524	9.305	2.7818	3,888
110	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.457	62.919	6.374	2.2200	4,474
111	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.448	59.032	8.217	2.8839	2,144
112	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.445	54.168	8.174	2.2211	3,959
113	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.438	55.722	5.776	4.3109	2,817
114	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.416	47.443	7.854	4.5710	2,111
=115	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.415	54.700	6.574	3.4702	1,944
=115	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.415	54.255	7.685	2.4008	2,136
117	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.412	55.650	7.440	2.5212	1,825
118	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.411	59.940	4.736	2.5184	3,237
119	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.401	58.291	3.784	2.3439	5,191
120	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.400	59.864	4.281	2.4161	3,188
121	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.395	53.781	5.743	3.4016	1,761
122	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.392	55.582	6.991	2.8721	1,241
123	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.390	52.621	5.452	2.0598	3,488
124	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.389	48.944	6.263	3.7254	1,865
125	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.383	45.483	6.015	2.9281	3,580
126	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.382	51.837	5.409	3.4226	1,724
127	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.379	57.037	4.407	1.9722	2,917
128	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.364	58.805	5.551	0.4033	2,409
129	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.358	53.441	4.956	1.5293	2,260
130	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.354	57.395	7.037	2.2720	658
131	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.345	47.549	5.767	3.2500	1,084
132	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.339	51.857	4.006	1.5212	2,595
133	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.336	49.575	4.919	1.9349	1,559
134	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.310	43.540	5.382	2.3268	1,112
135	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.303	43.287	4.209	1.9969	1,665
136	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.296	44.660	4.333	1.5139	1,414
137	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.291	45.521	3.228	0.9153	3,193
138	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.287	47.781	2.820	1.3253	1,964
139	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.250	44.705	3.898	1.5883	539
140	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.247	46.889	2.015	0.8818	1,660
141	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.219	42.289	1.994	0.7683	1,219

02In 1991

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
#2Australiashared0.868
#2Canadashared0.868
#4Norway0.863
#5Switzerlandshared0.860

Lowest

#141Niger0.219
#140Mali0.247
#139Mozambique0.250
#138Guinea0.287
#137Afghanistan0.291

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.642. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
HighestJapan79.262
LowestNiger42.289
Middle country: 69.040
Expected Years of Schooling
HighestAustralia17.432
LowestNiger1.994
Middle country: 10.797
Mean Years of Schooling
HighestUnited States13.0275
LowestYemen0.4033
Middle country: 6.0567
GNI per Capita (2021 PPP $)
HighestUnited Arab Emirates94,282
LowestMozambique539
Middle country: 9,393

031990 → 1991

Since 1990

What changed between 1990 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
135values changed, of 141 in both
107 · 28rose · fell
6unchanged

Rose most

Iran0.626 → 0.645+0.019
Iceland0.841 → 0.853+0.012
United Arab Emirates0.713 → 0.724+0.011
South Korea0.738 → 0.749+0.011
Nicaragua0.515 → 0.526+0.011

Fell most

Iraq0.531 → 0.504−0.027
Albania0.654 → 0.638−0.016
Romania0.719 → 0.705−0.014
Kuwait0.698 → 0.685−0.013
Armenia0.663 → 0.652−0.011

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. 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

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 1991.
130 distinct values among 141
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.868. 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.

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
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-1991-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
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 (1991). Human Development Index, 1991 [data set], describing 1991. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/human-development-index/1991

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Human Development Index, 1990
141 countries
The year after ›
Human Development Index, 1992
141 countries
All of them
Human Development Index: every year
34 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions