Data for 1997

Human Development Index, 1997

Name: Human Development Index, 1997
Creator: UNDP Human Development Report Office
License: https://hdr.undp.org/copyright-and-terms-use

1997, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Human Development Index, 1997 covers 149 countries on 5 measures. Norway is highest, at 0.900; Niger is lowest, at 0.250. The middle country reads 0.661. Against 1996, 145 values changed (133 up, 12 down), the same countries are covered.

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Human Development Index · Data for 1997

HighestNorway

0.900

LowestNiger

0.250

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

149countries
5measures per country
1997the year it describes
128distinct 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, 1997, 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, 1997: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.900	78.238	16.0662	11.970	58,182
2	United States`USA`Northern America	0.893	76.498	15.7892	13.065	49,355
3	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.891	77.931	16.5700	11.565	49,964
4	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.888	79.272	17.1563	10.897	42,755
5	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.887	78.626	20.2863	11.316	34,262
=6	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.884	77.403	17.6546	10.281	50,416
=6	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.884	78.465	16.3625	11.964	38,820
8	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.883	80.584	14.8312	11.952	41,735
=9	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.881	77.218	15.9484	11.817	46,807
=9	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.881	78.672	16.3598	11.350	41,293
11	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.880	79.233	14.6944	10.545	67,889
12	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.876	76.041	15.5752	11.980	49,954
=13	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.871	77.064	16.7199	10.747	43,074
=13	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.871	77.344	17.2120	12.002	28,247
15	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.866	76.389	16.6796	8.998	66,367
16	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.865	77.428	15.0007	10.834	51,145
17	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.849	77.139	15.2501	10.329	40,403
18	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.847	78.425	15.8194	8.895	43,807
19	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.837	76.390	12.3237	10.034	80,926
20	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.836	78.735	14.9887	8.356	47,251
21	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.824	78.552	13.7025	10.375	28,670
22	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.823	75.977	13.9887	10.110	36,933
23	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.817	79.732	11.4989	9.893	42,819
24	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.816	78.850	15.8615	7.256	34,073
25	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.812	74.531	15.2641	10.248	24,891
26	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.803	78.399	13.6907	8.716	29,637
27	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.797	73.946	13.4981	10.422	26,898
28	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.794	74.713	12.6257	7.308	93,249
=29	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.789	75.922	16.0445	6.486	29,916
=29	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.789	74.989	13.2105	9.504	27,652
31	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.788	77.119	11.8579	9.422	30,537
32	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.785	73.326	11.4325	8.152	91,943
33	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.775	72.591	13.9136	10.861	16,089
34	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.773	71.597	11.4119	10.731	30,050
35	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.772	77.316	13.4631	7.195	27,801
36	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.768	73.407	13.8975	8.598	22,817
37	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.765	75.565	11.6694	5.979	78,039
38	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.761	72.559	10.3092	7.742	99,640
39	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.759	70.244	13.5603	11.402	14,027
40	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.758	71.003	13.1701	9.964	19,405
=41	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.752	73.988	13.9099	9.009	13,867
=41	Chile`CHL`South America	0.752	75.826	12.4405	8.928	16,458
=43	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.747	72.689	12.4549	9.020	19,501
=43	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.747	73.920	13.7207	7.681	18,694
45	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.746	73.872	11.0606	7.160	43,919
46	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.739	71.029	12.4973	10.395	13,567
=47	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.734	72.990	11.3423	8.702	20,104
=47	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.734	66.594	11.8116	11.181	18,503
49	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.727	69.225	12.1575	11.050	11,590
50	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.721	70.720	15.7275	5.046	18,954
51	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.718	71.624	10.7584	6.314	42,404
=52	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.713	70.314	12.6116	8.853	12,223
=52	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.713	72.296	11.7499	7.528	17,638
54	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.712	76.603	11.0034	7.382	14,437
55	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.709	69.086	11.4673	9.185	14,794
56	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.706	67.658	12.4301	10.453	9,759
57	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.704	68.501	12.4847	10.127	9,290
=58	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.701	72.541	11.6154	7.739	12,813
=58	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.701	70.778	12.1128	7.193	16,018
=60	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.698	72.947	12.9182	7.164	10,098
=60	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.698	72.560	10.5357	7.077	19,400
62	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.694	71.472	11.4671	6.447	18,703
63	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.692	68.143	11.0439	8.436	15,403
64	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.687	68.649	11.5562	7.675	14,578
65	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.682	72.007	12.2001	7.149	9,353
66	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.680	69.012	12.7981	10.034	5,484
=67	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.679	75.064	11.9585	9.718	4,165
=67	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.679	69.934	12.1082	9.904	5,746
69	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.676	68.505	14.4420	4.758	13,514
70	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.673	63.318	11.8364	9.089	12,185
71	Colombia`COL`South America	0.670	70.632	11.4219	6.707	11,394
72	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.665	70.045	11.6771	10.625	4,186
=73	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.663	71.216	10.6566	7.271	9,374
=73	Peru`PER`South America	0.663	68.324	11.7462	8.186	7,592
=75	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.661	71.324	11.9843	6.782	7,547
=75	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.661	71.881	11.1765	6.014	10,793
77	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.659	70.684	10.9653	6.168	11,743
78	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.658	66.293	11.9522	7.831	8,628
79	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.654	69.183	11.3377	6.653	9,551
80	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.653	69.284	11.1494	6.477	10,117
81	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.648	61.395	11.3694	5.592	28,269
82	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.645	73.383	10.3651	7.906	5,007
83	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.644	69.592	10.1509	10.276	4,087
84	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.642	60.538	12.5458	8.077	9,486
=85	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.639	69.809	10.5440	6.139	9,198
=85	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.639	70.362	10.4632	5.325	11,617
87	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.638	70.668	9.7229	5.020	15,431
88	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.626	62.953	11.4387	10.181	4,214
89	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.624	68.859	10.4103	5.143	10,407
=90	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.623	66.207	10.3335	6.339	9,207
=90	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.623	66.994	11.3405	7.453	5,065
=90	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.623	71.670	11.3448	4.482	7,694
93	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.610	60.745	13.0491	6.766	5,868
94	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.608	64.162	10.5759	10.020	3,267
=95	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.595	65.774	10.7107	5.132	6,813
=95	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0.595	62.942	10.3000	7.944	4,584
97	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.593	70.158	9.8368	4.307	7,352
98	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.587	53.594	11.0684	7.070	11,898
99	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.586	66.248	10.2600	4.599	7,102
100	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.585	61.438	8.0673	8.788	5,540
101	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.580	55.844	12.5370	5.764	7,682
102	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.578	71.670	9.8762	5.127	3,687
103	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.568	65.523	9.1311	6.430	4,018
104	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.566	71.227	9.1369	5.526	3,217
105	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.565	64.241	8.0719	5.373	7,775
106	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.552	62.879	9.6462	5.777	3,886
107	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.547	67.542	8.8122	4.396	4,373
108	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.539	65.249	7.6686	3.710	8,267
109	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.536	61.928	9.7102	10.479	1,285
110	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.523	51.699	9.7030	5.912	6,394
111	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.516	48.575	9.7462	6.958	6,137
112	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.500	65.616	7.6041	2.900	4,611
113	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.493	55.478	8.3959	4.981	3,772
114	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.484	56.675	9.6636	3.408	3,236
115	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.482	61.439	8.2898	3.635	2,711
116	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.472	48.536	10.0510	6.085	2,669
=117	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.469	57.241	6.5550	4.982	3,102
=117	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.469	53.733	8.9382	4.718	2,581
119	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.455	57.302	7.4840	4.032	2,415
120	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.453	60.823	8.2351	2.800	2,111
121	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.451	59.671	6.9585	4.005	2,095
122	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.450	59.417	5.7106	2.799	5,201
123	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.449	61.270	5.6108	3.154	3,716
124	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.441	53.845	8.9844	2.875	2,336
125	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.432	53.105	7.4166	2.726	3,418
126	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.422	60.623	4.5351	3.018	3,362
127	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.418	45.743	8.2528	5.117	2,109
128	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.414	57.266	7.6360	3.203	1,300
=129	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.413	45.960	7.2231	3.985	3,342
=129	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.413	61.340	6.5995	0.969	3,012
131	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.409	51.498	6.1191	2.705	3,634
=132	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.396	55.986	5.8995	2.035	2,442
=132	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.396	59.523	7.8252	2.619	915
=134	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.388	50.461	6.7077	4.794	1,090
=134	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.388	51.246	5.3944	3.963	1,721
136	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.386	57.107	4.9725	1.809	2,884
137	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.381	55.225	5.1558	2.111	2,369
138	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.379	44.200	10.7311	2.647	1,234
139	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.376	48.026	6.7372	3.714	1,392
140	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.338	53.212	4.9804	1.159	1,691
141	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.332	51.113	4.2022	1.404	2,226
142	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.325	47.284	4.6041	2.359	1,388
143	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.324	56.207	3.0595	1.286	2,361
144	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.307	43.649	5.5236	2.527	921
145	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.297	45.721	4.5484	1.837	1,036
146	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.295	41.978	5.6448	2.262	877
147	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.293	49.086	3.4149	1.093	1,684
148	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.281	47.800	4.8614	1.627	618
149	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.250	47.097	2.4546	1.022	1,127

02In 1997

At either end

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

Highest

#1Norway0.900
#2United States0.893
#3Netherlands0.891
#4Sweden0.888
#5Australia0.887

Lowest

#149Niger0.250
#148Mozambique0.281
#147Mali0.293
#146Rwanda0.295
#145Burundi0.297

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.661. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
HighestJapan80.584
LowestRwanda41.978
Middle country: 69.592
Expected Years of Schooling
HighestAustralia20.2863
LowestNiger2.4546
Middle country: 11.3423
Mean Years of Schooling
HighestUnited States13.065
LowestYemen0.969
Middle country: 7.160
GNI per Capita (2021 PPP $)
HighestUnited Arab Emirates99,640
LowestMozambique618
Middle country: 9,551

031996 → 1997

Since 1996

What changed between 1996 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
145values changed, of 149 in both
133 · 12rose · fell
4unchanged

Rose most

Lithuania0.723 → 0.739+0.016
Estonia0.746 → 0.759+0.013
Latvia0.714 → 0.727+0.013
Mozambique0.269 → 0.281+0.012
Malaysia0.701 → 0.713+0.012

Fell most

Republic of the Congo0.550 → 0.516−0.034
Eswatini0.532 → 0.523−0.009
Namibia0.587 → 0.580−0.007
South Africa0.649 → 0.642−0.007
Bahamas0.779 → 0.773−0.006

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 1997.
128 distinct values among 149
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.623. 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-1997-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 (1997). Human Development Index, 1997 [data set], describing 1997. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/human-development-index/1997

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Human Development Index, 1996
149 countries
The year after ›
Human Development Index, 1998
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