Data for 1996

Human Development Index, 1996

Name: Human Development Index, 1996
Creator: UNDP Human Development Report Office
License: https://hdr.undp.org/copyright-and-terms-use

1996, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Human Development Index, 1996 covers 149 countries on 5 measures. Norway is highest, at 0.894; Niger is lowest, at 0.245. The middle country reads 0.657. Against 1995, 146 values changed (133 up, 13 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

Human Development Index · Data for 1996

HighestNorway

0.894

LowestNiger

0.245

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

149countries
5measures per country
1996the year it describes
134distinct 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, 1996, as published. The rank is UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own, as printed. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 149 countries · select a heading to sort

Human Development Index, 1996: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.894	78.233	15.8133	11.9329	55,224
=2	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.890	77.556	16.9582	11.4893	47,979
=2	United States`USA`Northern America	0.890	76.175	15.8460	13.1000	47,475
=4	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.884	78.344	19.5117	11.3256	33,072
=4	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.884	78.272	16.8334	11.7900	37,648
6	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.881	77.185	17.6802	10.1943	48,728
7	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.880	80.363	14.7485	11.9070	41,539
8	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.877	79.045	16.5232	10.7133	41,627
=9	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.875	76.783	15.8644	11.6162	46,323
=9	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.875	79.049	14.4589	10.5136	66,027
11	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.873	78.646	15.9256	11.2205	39,334
12	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.870	75.664	15.4088	11.8150	48,472
13	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.863	76.870	16.5802	10.5231	40,186
14	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.862	76.807	16.9728	11.7350	27,564
15	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.861	77.026	14.9681	10.7436	50,378
16	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.859	76.050	16.6405	8.8390	61,813
17	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.842	78.061	15.8602	8.7029	42,809
18	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.841	76.872	15.0532	10.2055	37,957
19	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.832	76.168	12.1549	9.8600	77,668
20	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.829	78.438	14.7226	8.2237	46,166
21	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.817	78.570	13.2134	10.3033	28,128
22	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.816	75.826	13.9068	9.9700	34,165
23	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.811	78.339	15.9231	7.0585	32,907
24	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.808	79.454	11.1755	9.7700	40,478
25	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.801	74.021	14.6694	10.1240	24,148
26	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.796	78.036	13.5064	8.5864	28,687
27	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.793	73.834	13.3467	10.2333	26,926
28	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.791	74.558	12.6142	7.1940	74,476
29	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.784	73.079	11.5422	8.1060	95,455
30	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.782	76.880	11.6814	9.2600	30,375
31	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.781	75.476	15.9318	6.3114	28,912
32	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.779	71.464	11.3947	10.6280	36,415
33	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.778	74.797	12.8612	9.1715	26,313
34	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.769	75.602	12.0758	5.9012	75,906
=35	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.763	76.321	13.3545	7.1029	26,583
=35	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.763	72.253	13.3832	10.7336	15,128
37	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.760	73.056	13.6759	8.5300	21,381
38	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.753	71.820	10.3035	7.4968	100,664
39	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.752	70.597	12.9157	9.8945	19,086
40	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.748	74.065	13.7728	9.0149	13,172
41	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.746	70.031	13.1527	11.1425	12,654
42	Chile`CHL`South America	0.745	75.555	12.2652	8.8552	15,509
43	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.741	73.610	11.0093	6.8650	45,319
44	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.740	72.739	12.3696	8.7100	18,339
45	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.736	73.812	13.3495	7.4700	17,212
46	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.725	72.975	11.1935	8.3950	18,844
=47	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.723	70.193	11.9838	10.2111	12,204
=47	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.723	65.449	11.6842	10.8885	18,356
49	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.718	70.836	12.5160	8.5567	14,092
50	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.716	70.736	15.6475	4.8680	18,279
51	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.714	68.586	11.6554	10.9090	10,875
52	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.711	71.288	10.4974	6.1959	43,083
=53	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.707	76.428	10.8511	7.3231	13,921
=53	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.707	68.821	11.3071	9.0860	15,516
=55	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.701	72.119	11.2960	7.2300	16,975
=55	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.701	70.963	12.0632	7.1026	16,346
=55	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.701	67.097	12.2052	10.3227	9,973
58	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.697	68.566	12.3634	10.0436	8,325
59	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.694	72.199	11.3761	7.6920	12,416
60	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.692	72.916	12.8348	7.0725	9,397
61	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.690	71.920	10.5632	6.8291	18,614
62	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.687	71.088	11.3673	6.3760	17,606
63	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.684	68.039	10.9326	8.2667	14,029
64	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.681	68.328	11.4230	7.4141	14,589
65	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.678	68.803	12.5919	10.0300	5,536
66	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.677	71.820	12.0404	7.0924	9,084
67	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.675	74.690	11.9709	9.6247	4,063
68	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.672	69.841	12.0184	9.6851	5,424
69	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.671	68.108	14.3919	4.5862	13,311
70	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.669	63.455	11.6959	8.8635	11,831
71	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.664	71.328	10.7344	7.1875	9,623
=72	Colombia`COL`South America	0.663	70.209	11.0701	6.6555	11,222
=72	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.663	69.767	11.6675	10.5528	4,189
74	Peru`PER`South America	0.658	67.850	11.7995	8.1273	7,240
=75	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.657	66.202	11.9064	7.6900	8,966
=75	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.657	71.105	12.0407	6.5893	7,401
=75	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.657	71.854	11.1659	5.7925	10,673
78	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.653	70.524	10.7615	6.1240	11,147
79	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.650	69.363	11.1589	6.4807	9,403
80	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.649	61.079	12.7490	8.2811	9,400
81	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.647	74.113	10.1615	7.6238	5,594
82	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.646	69.050	10.7387	6.3718	10,265
83	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.644	61.265	11.3253	5.4060	27,615
84	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.635	69.198	9.8751	10.2047	3,800
85	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.634	69.940	10.2422	5.2122	12,164
86	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.631	69.595	10.3554	6.0307	8,596
87	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.630	70.245	9.6616	4.8761	14,483
88	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.622	62.660	11.4159	10.1418	4,033
89	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.619	66.691	11.2918	7.4140	4,928
90	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.617	65.733	10.1529	6.3300	8,917
91	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.616	71.247	11.2538	4.3265	7,337
92	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.615	68.219	10.1239	4.9879	10,390
93	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.602	60.287	12.7419	6.6544	5,677
94	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.597	63.447	10.2943	9.8850	3,050
95	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.590	70.156	9.7784	4.2879	7,028
=96	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.587	56.639	12.8116	5.7550	7,590
=96	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0.587	62.709	10.2215	7.8263	4,176
98	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.585	65.465	10.4086	4.8588	6,631
99	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.584	54.284	10.8847	6.8900	11,044
100	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.578	61.000	7.8203	8.7044	5,391
101	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.576	65.480	9.9355	4.4729	6,992
102	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.567	71.296	9.5637	4.9559	3,482
103	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.559	65.215	8.8305	6.2894	3,860
104	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.557	64.618	7.9611	5.2979	6,615
105	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.555	70.823	8.9750	5.3280	2,967
106	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.550	55.240	9.9353	6.8568	5,587
107	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.546	62.691	9.4683	5.6995	3,765
108	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.541	67.263	8.6941	4.3292	4,200
109	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.532	53.296	9.6996	6.0215	6,310
110	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.530	64.540	7.4189	3.6405	8,101
111	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.528	60.806	9.8878	10.3723	1,228
112	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.495	65.226	7.4330	2.7800	4,759
113	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.491	55.575	8.3203	4.8326	3,837
114	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.479	56.111	9.6029	3.2979	3,212
115	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.476	61.027	8.2666	3.4663	2,652
116	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.473	55.136	8.9898	4.6227	2,452
117	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.472	48.981	9.9493	5.9320	2,716
118	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.465	56.957	6.4183	4.9022	3,048
119	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.449	56.821	7.2727	3.9603	2,355
=120	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.448	58.915	5.6457	2.7260	5,558
=120	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.448	61.071	5.4636	3.0840	4,008
122	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.447	60.044	8.1201	2.7679	2,043
123	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.442	58.940	6.7558	3.9124	2,020
124	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.433	53.817	8.8180	2.8053	2,109
125	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.432	53.200	7.5429	2.6412	3,366
126	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.420	60.466	4.4927	2.9159	3,443
127	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.415	45.757	8.1498	5.0263	2,086
=128	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.408	56.832	7.5285	3.1465	1,261
=128	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.408	45.833	7.0061	3.8092	3,332
130	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.405	60.884	6.4120	0.8468	2,927
131	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.403	51.596	6.0026	2.5603	3,451
132	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.391	59.169	7.7970	2.5481	877
133	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.389	55.648	5.7224	1.9500	2,363
134	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.386	49.376	6.6309	4.6786	1,180
135	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.385	57.129	4.8780	1.8396	2,869
136	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.383	51.132	5.2422	3.8743	1,705
137	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.377	54.849	4.9398	2.0680	2,453
138	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.375	44.005	10.5032	2.5835	1,212
139	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.367	47.759	6.1796	3.6364	1,357
140	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.334	52.830	4.6884	1.1236	1,852
=141	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.323	47.700	4.5023	2.2812	1,339
=141	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.323	50.546	3.8565	1.3900	2,174
143	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.320	56.330	2.9650	1.2205	2,340
144	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.311	43.528	5.3044	2.4454	1,116
145	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.297	42.486	5.6448	2.1966	879
146	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.292	44.807	4.5312	1.7833	1,029
147	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.282	48.500	3.0642	1.0624	1,646
148	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.269	47.121	4.5073	1.5844	565
149	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.245	46.313	2.3685	0.9751	1,161

02In 1996

At either end

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

Highest

#1Norway0.894
#2Netherlandsshared0.890
#2United Statesshared0.890
#4Australiashared0.884
#4Canadashared0.884

Lowest

#149Niger0.245
#148Mozambique0.269
#147Mali0.282
#146Burundi0.292
#145Rwanda0.297

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.657. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
HighestJapan80.363
LowestRwanda42.486
Middle country: 69.363
Expected Years of Schooling
HighestAustralia19.5117
LowestNiger2.3685
Middle country: 11.1755
Mean Years of Schooling
HighestUnited States13.1000
LowestYemen0.8468
Middle country: 7.0585
GNI per Capita (2021 PPP $)
HighestUnited Arab Emirates100,664
LowestMozambique565
Middle country: 9,403

031995 → 1996

Since 1995

What changed between 1995 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
146values changed, of 149 in both
133 · 13rose · fell
3unchanged

Rose most

Estonia0.725 → 0.746+0.021
Iraq0.538 → 0.557+0.019
Latvia0.695 → 0.714+0.019
Lithuania0.706 → 0.723+0.017
Laos0.436 → 0.449+0.013

Fell most

Tajikistan0.547 → 0.528−0.019
Namibia0.595 → 0.587−0.008
Eswatini0.540 → 0.532−0.008
South Africa0.654 → 0.649−0.005
Zimbabwe0.477 → 0.472−0.005

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 1996.
134 distinct values among 149
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.701. 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 149 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
149 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-1996-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 (1996). Human Development Index, 1996 [data set], describing 1996. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/human-development-index/1996

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Human Development Index, 1995
149 countries
The year after ›
Human Development Index, 1997
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