Data for 1994

Human Development Index, 1994

Name: Human Development Index, 1994
Creator: UNDP Human Development Report Office
License: https://hdr.undp.org/copyright-and-terms-use

1994, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Human Development Index, 1994 covers 142 countries on 5 measures. Norway is highest, at 0.890; Niger is lowest, at 0.233. The middle country reads 0.648. Against 1993, 137 values changed (115 up, 22 down), the same countries are covered.

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Human Development Index · Data for 1994

HighestNorway

0.890

LowestNiger

0.233

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

142countries
5measures per country
1994the year it describes
127distinct 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, 1994, 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 142 countries · select a heading to sort

Human Development Index, 1994: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.890	77.773	16.2353	11.8586	49,559.5
2	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.889	77.518	17.3337	11.3519	44,704.9
3	United States`USA`Northern America	0.887	75.738	15.9580	13.1700	45,015.8
4	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.877	77.901	16.8873	11.4420	36,179.3
5	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.873	77.852	17.4309	11.3136	31,222.6
6	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.872	79.837	14.5521	11.8180	39,452.0
7	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.870	78.495	14.2509	10.4929	65,583.7
=8	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.868	76.716	17.0141	9.9669	47,466.9
=8	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.868	79.022	15.7885	10.9746	37,880.5
10	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.865	76.380	15.6447	11.2050	45,264.1
11	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.862	78.747	15.7978	10.3600	39,320.4
12	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.859	75.441	15.0534	11.5600	45,814.8
13	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.852	76.918	16.6554	11.2010	26,628.7
14	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.851	76.541	14.6208	10.5621	48,398.9
15	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.850	76.575	16.2976	10.0754	37,267.1
16	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.848	75.627	16.5626	8.4520	58,030.7
17	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.836	76.720	14.6593	9.9928	39,426.2
18	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.832	77.768	15.6442	8.3186	41,633.0
19	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.820	75.931	11.7421	9.5120	73,981.5
20	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.816	77.873	14.3669	7.9605	43,902.1
21	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.806	78.045	12.9075	10.1651	26,215.4
22	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.805	75.796	13.7646	9.6900	29,994.4
23	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.798	78.114	15.5732	6.6631	31,017.8
24	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.793	78.718	10.5557	9.4020	41,456.2
25	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.790	77.858	13.3853	8.3279	28,027.0
26	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.784	74.245	12.4874	6.9461	76,552.3
27	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.782	72.571	11.7617	7.9500	93,144.9
28	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.779	72.889	13.9812	9.8540	21,228.8
=29	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.771	76.383	11.3361	8.9350	29,878.3
=29	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.771	73.082	12.5536	9.8560	24,179.1
=31	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.765	71.429	11.3604	10.4220	28,542.4
=31	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.765	75.730	15.0432	5.9629	27,072.8
33	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.758	76.946	13.2379	6.9017	24,650.1
34	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.756	73.906	12.4385	8.5069	24,299.6
35	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.753	72.732	13.2326	8.3940	21,524.6
36	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.747	71.683	13.0822	10.4185	13,325.4
37	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.742	71.204	10.2920	6.9527	96,779.8
38	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.740	73.755	13.4985	8.8906	12,523.7
39	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.739	69.604	12.2562	9.7564	19,071.3
40	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.734	75.728	9.7322	5.7866	72,176.8
41	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.732	73.134	11.2916	6.2750	43,781.9
42	Chile`CHL`South America	0.730	74.973	11.9145	8.7026	13,579.0
43	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.727	73.162	13.1078	7.3074	16,658.5
44	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.720	72.329	11.9552	8.0900	16,418.7
45	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.713	70.861	11.8808	7.9633	17,270.5
46	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.712	63.822	11.5872	10.4075	19,937.9
47	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.711	66.744	12.5449	10.6383	11,099.5
48	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.710	70.472	15.4888	4.5140	18,943.9
49	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.706	67.534	11.7553	10.0101	12,440.9
50	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.701	76.329	10.5467	7.1731	14,182.6
=51	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.699	68.503	11.4342	9.8535	10,783.9
=51	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.699	70.587	9.9944	5.9769	44,264.6
53	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.696	71.076	11.9641	6.9216	15,680.6
54	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.695	69.326	10.6214	8.8880	14,035.7
55	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.688	71.943	10.9809	7.5980	12,477.0
56	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.686	65.183	11.3545	10.4463	10,251.4
57	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.684	71.865	10.7931	6.9231	14,754.5
58	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.681	71.283	10.6183	6.3327	18,730.8
59	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.680	70.302	11.0648	6.2340	18,447.6
60	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.672	67.837	10.7101	7.9278	12,760.0
61	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.670	68.371	12.1896	9.8586	5,499.6
62	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.667	70.876	11.7212	6.9782	9,057.0
63	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.666	64.108	11.4149	8.4106	12,427.7
=64	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.664	67.490	11.1909	6.8701	13,756.6
=64	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.664	71.624	10.8900	7.0205	9,538.3
=64	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.664	70.211	11.8390	9.2780	5,074.8
67	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.662	74.092	11.7033	9.3838	3,717.8
68	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.659	67.293	14.2923	4.2688	12,566.5
69	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.654	62.069	13.1556	8.1283	9,029.1
70	Colombia`COL`South America	0.650	69.422	10.5215	6.5518	10,880.8
=71	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.648	65.796	11.8148	7.4945	8,282.0
=71	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.648	71.487	11.0546	5.3500	10,723.5
73	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.647	70.738	11.9283	6.1184	7,264.2
74	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.645	70.420	10.4982	6.0360	10,414.2
75	Peru`PER`South America	0.644	66.544	11.4756	8.0091	6,750.8
76	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.643	69.585	10.8098	6.1364	9,738.1
77	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.636	61.183	11.2375	5.0400	27,124.2
78	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.631	68.504	10.2154	6.1609	9,556.1
79	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.629	73.837	9.9927	7.3441	4,484.9
80	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.625	68.448	10.4751	10.0629	3,178.8
81	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.620	69.661	9.8486	4.9814	11,034.1
82	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.617	69.160	9.9882	5.7909	7,903.4
83	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.616	69.402	9.4829	4.6774	12,915.2
84	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.606	66.000	10.8654	7.3360	4,488.9
85	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.603	67.284	9.9861	4.6495	10,069.7
86	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.601	64.663	9.7919	5.9553	8,455.2
87	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.600	58.441	13.2993	5.7370	7,485.9
88	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.598	70.363	10.7000	4.0296	6,884.4
89	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.595	62.718	10.6317	9.6343	3,114.2
90	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.587	70.296	9.9255	4.1716	6,455.2
=91	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.586	59.282	12.1490	6.4322	5,386.6
=91	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0.586	62.317	10.0674	7.5918	4,699.6
93	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.580	55.970	10.3418	6.4720	10,298.7
94	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.568	60.855	7.5268	8.5941	4,954.1
95	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.565	65.041	10.0646	4.3125	5,873.7
96	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.561	55.641	10.3136	6.5764	6,807.4
97	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.558	64.470	9.2863	4.2214	6,722.2
98	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.547	65.027	7.7442	5.1513	5,760.6
=99	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.543	56.643	9.5202	6.1632	5,424.2
=99	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.543	70.379	8.9385	4.6480	2,949.9
101	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.540	64.549	8.3591	6.0224	3,355.5
102	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.538	60.093	10.1100	10.0729	1,513.3
=103	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.532	69.835	8.5807	4.9320	2,513.8
=103	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.532	66.523	8.4579	4.1826	4,124.7
105	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.531	63.007	9.1224	5.5516	3,062.2
106	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.515	63.026	7.0730	3.4960	7,908.9
107	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.484	56.101	8.1690	4.5148	3,613.4
108	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.482	52.537	9.7459	5.6260	2,511.6
109	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.480	64.346	7.0136	2.5500	4,597.9
110	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.478	57.288	9.0081	4.4444	2,348.6
=111	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.463	54.731	9.4827	3.0867	2,900.8
=111	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.463	60.237	8.2529	3.1939	2,381.7
113	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.453	56.234	6.1533	4.6943	2,933.3
114	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.439	60.726	5.1648	2.8900	4,137.1
=115	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.434	53.537	7.7955	2.4724	3,323.9
=115	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.434	55.810	7.0065	3.7838	2,156.6
117	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.433	58.631	7.7137	2.6824	1,972.5
118	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.432	58.763	5.2204	2.5756	4,817.3
119	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.426	57.640	6.3506	3.7150	1,911.6
=120	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.413	53.707	7.7636	2.6519	1,923.4
=120	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.413	46.344	8.0317	4.8442	1,988.0
122	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.412	60.197	4.4079	2.7148	3,324.3
123	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.400	56.221	7.3135	3.0355	1,217.3
124	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.397	45.748	6.5915	3.4568	3,341.8
125	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.396	52.005	5.7762	2.3265	3,299.8
=126	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.382	49.880	6.4801	4.3536	1,187.0
=126	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.382	57.479	4.6888	1.8959	2,760.9
=126	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.382	59.828	6.0528	0.6440	2,406.0
129	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.381	58.326	7.8682	2.4256	790.3
130	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.380	51.077	5.3711	3.6947	1,626.7
131	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.375	54.988	5.4024	1.7800	2,232.9
132	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.362	53.768	4.5330	1.8992	2,460.5
133	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.350	47.675	5.5906	3.4818	1,168.6
134	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.325	43.800	6.8383	2.4719	984.7
135	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.323	48.509	4.2986	2.1362	1,447.5
136	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.312	42.808	4.8660	2.2718	1,504.5
137	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.307	49.188	3.3922	1.3637	2,092.1
138	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.305	50.969	4.1044	1.0452	1,425.2
139	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.298	44.515	4.4970	1.6756	1,291.2
140	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.266	47.914	2.5936	0.9944	1,601.0
141	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.255	46.086	4.0438	1.5536	526.4
142	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.233	44.586	2.1964	0.8886	1,138.6

02In 1994

At either end

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

Highest

#1Norway0.890
#2Netherlands0.889
#3United States0.887
#4Canada0.877
#5Australia0.873

Lowest

#142Niger0.233
#141Mozambique0.255
#140Mali0.266
#139Burundi0.298
#138Afghanistan0.305

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.648. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
HighestJapan79.837
LowestSierra Leone42.808
Middle country: 68.832
Expected Years of Schooling
HighestAustralia17.4309
LowestNiger2.1964
Middle country: 10.7051
Mean Years of Schooling
HighestUnited States13.1700
LowestYemen0.6440
Middle country: 6.5641
GNI per Capita (2021 PPP $)
HighestUnited Arab Emirates96,779.8
LowestMozambique526.4
Middle country: 9,903.9

031993 → 1994

Since 1993

What changed between 1993 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
137values changed, of 142 in both
115 · 22rose · fell
5unchanged

Rose most

Burundi0.265 → 0.298+0.033
Kuwait0.704 → 0.734+0.030
Netherlands0.863 → 0.889+0.026
Norway0.875 → 0.890+0.015
France0.818 → 0.832+0.014

Fell most

Kyrgyzstan0.615 → 0.595−0.020
Ukraine0.721 → 0.706−0.015
Russia0.725 → 0.712−0.013
Tajikistan0.549 → 0.538−0.011
Botswana0.588 → 0.580−0.008

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 1994.
127 distinct values among 142
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.664. 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 142 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
142 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-1994-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 (1994). Human Development Index, 1994 [data set], describing 1994. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/human-development-index/1994

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Human Development Index, 1993
142 countries
The year after ›
Human Development Index, 1995
149 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