Data for 1998

Human Development Index, 1998

Name: Human Development Index, 1998
Creator: UNDP Human Development Report Office
License: https://hdr.undp.org/copyright-and-terms-use

1998, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Human Development Index, 1998 covers 149 countries on 5 measures. Norway is highest, at 0.908; Niger is lowest, at 0.258. The middle country reads 0.666. Against 1997, 144 values changed (132 up, 12 down), the same countries are covered.

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Human Development Index · Data for 1998

HighestNorway

0.908

LowestNiger

0.258

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

149countries
5measures per country
1998the year it describes
129distinct 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, 1998, 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, 1998: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.908	78.408	16.8660	12.0071	57,240
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.901	79.416	18.5218	11.0800	44,696
3	United States`USA`Northern America	0.895	76.659	15.7324	13.0300	51,532
=4	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.893	79.396	16.7940	11.4789	43,904
=4	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.893	78.004	16.4704	11.6397	51,484
6	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.891	79.020	20.4508	11.3055	35,543
7	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.887	77.576	16.0200	12.0180	47,806
=8	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.886	77.476	17.6290	10.3679	51,411
=8	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.886	79.475	14.9298	10.5757	70,278
10	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.884	80.649	14.9139	11.9960	41,211
=11	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.883	78.674	15.8916	12.1380	39,279
=11	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.883	76.436	15.7416	12.1450	50,958
13	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.881	78.167	17.4511	12.2690	28,658
14	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.880	77.259	16.9573	10.9708	45,607
15	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.870	77.782	15.0829	10.9250	52,821
16	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.869	76.851	16.7188	9.1570	62,870
17	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.856	77.275	15.4471	10.4529	42,491
18	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.855	76.185	16.4949	10.2500	39,931
19	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.851	78.588	15.7620	9.0871	45,367
20	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.845	76.571	12.7148	10.2080	80,342
21	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.840	78.807	15.0949	8.4890	48,327
22	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.831	78.588	14.1917	10.4469	29,412
23	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.823	80.072	11.8316	10.0160	41,628
24	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.821	78.939	15.7697	7.4538	35,673
25	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.813	78.303	14.3958	8.8450	30,444
26	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.809	75.035	15.0135	10.3720	22,816
=27	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.802	74.553	13.3247	10.6107	27,484
=27	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.802	75.139	13.8018	9.8362	28,745
29	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.798	77.164	12.0372	9.5850	34,855
30	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.796	74.872	12.6372	7.4228	98,123
31	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.795	76.116	16.1572	6.6600	31,529
32	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.785	73.584	11.3227	8.1980	89,448
33	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.784	72.847	14.3594	10.9882	16,834
34	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.781	77.799	13.8455	7.2865	28,482
35	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.777	71.840	11.4290	10.8340	30,745
36	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.772	73.412	14.1191	8.6660	23,342
=37	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.770	75.612	11.9067	6.0568	79,666
=37	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.770	73.660	10.3149	7.9877	93,807
39	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.767	69.840	13.9678	11.6613	14,952
40	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.764	70.919	13.5224	10.0327	20,192
41	Chile`CHL`South America	0.759	76.324	12.6159	9.0016	17,052
42	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.758	72.573	12.9937	9.3300	20,074
43	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.757	74.029	14.0919	7.8929	19,427
=44	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.754	74.138	11.1119	7.4550	45,379
=44	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.754	74.465	14.0471	9.0024	13,422
46	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.751	71.330	12.9812	10.5797	14,594
47	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.744	73.193	11.7188	9.0090	20,568
=48	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.738	68.851	12.8752	11.1900	12,690
=48	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.738	66.916	12.0132	11.4736	17,141
50	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.725	71.957	11.0258	6.4329	42,493
51	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.723	70.873	12.7276	9.1500	12,907
52	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.721	70.657	15.8079	5.2240	18,045
53	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.718	72.385	12.2039	7.8250	15,935
54	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.715	69.892	11.6946	9.2840	14,481
55	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.714	76.869	11.1556	7.4406	14,000
56	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.710	67.993	12.6551	10.5826	9,595
57	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.709	68.272	12.4904	10.2120	10,114
58	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.707	72.785	11.8547	7.7860	13,445
59	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.705	70.680	12.1624	7.2837	16,881
60	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.701	71.792	11.7035	6.5180	19,538
=61	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.700	68.331	11.1551	8.6056	16,826
=61	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.700	72.446	10.5081	7.3255	19,076
63	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.699	72.299	13.0021	7.2563	10,470
64	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.695	69.214	11.6893	7.9363	14,651
=65	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.685	70.134	12.1979	10.1229	5,953
=65	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.685	69.224	13.0076	10.0380	5,667
67	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.684	71.949	12.3597	7.2065	9,442
68	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.683	75.412	12.0960	9.8110	4,165
69	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.680	68.848	14.4922	4.9292	13,306
70	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.678	63.349	11.9769	9.3145	12,169
71	Colombia`COL`South America	0.676	70.924	11.7737	6.7591	11,317
72	Peru`PER`South America	0.671	68.724	12.3601	8.2455	7,503
73	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.669	70.308	11.6867	10.6982	4,266
74	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.667	70.894	11.3349	6.2120	12,317
75	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.666	71.802	11.2846	6.2350	11,100
76	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.664	71.521	11.9280	6.9744	7,660
77	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.662	71.170	10.5788	7.3545	9,170
78	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.660	66.536	11.9979	7.9718	8,500
=79	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.659	74.357	10.5482	8.1872	5,515
=79	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.659	69.507	11.5602	6.5827	9,892
81	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.657	68.906	11.5193	6.8250	9,488
82	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.655	70.005	10.7304	10.3483	4,301
83	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.654	61.506	11.4138	5.7780	29,626
84	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.649	71.144	10.1276	5.1634	15,772
85	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.645	69.875	10.7360	6.2479	9,636
86	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.642	70.703	10.8713	5.4383	10,492
=87	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.636	63.750	11.4616	10.2205	4,609
=87	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.636	72.067	11.9318	4.6376	7,989
=89	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.634	69.327	10.6968	5.2985	10,820
=89	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.634	59.912	12.3425	7.8723	9,378
91	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.629	66.635	10.5140	6.3480	9,542
92	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.624	67.212	11.3891	7.4920	5,039
93	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.618	61.227	13.3638	6.8767	6,087
94	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.613	64.579	10.8574	10.1550	3,233
95	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0.605	63.162	10.3794	8.0608	5,293
96	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.595	70.237	9.8952	4.3260	7,489
=97	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.594	66.655	10.5846	4.7243	7,246
=97	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.594	62.121	8.4312	8.8722	5,734
99	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.591	65.942	10.7851	5.4050	5,663
=100	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.588	52.968	11.2522	7.2500	12,134
=100	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.588	72.283	10.1888	5.2971	3,822
102	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.580	64.405	8.1841	5.4487	10,197
103	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.576	71.601	9.3928	5.7240	3,422
104	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.574	54.767	12.4492	5.7730	7,790
105	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.569	64.111	9.4318	6.5699	4,198
106	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.557	63.429	9.8274	5.8553	3,897
107	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.548	65.969	7.9183	3.7788	8,512
108	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.542	52.551	9.5571	7.0597	6,759
109	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.541	62.404	9.5325	10.5861	1,351
110	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.529	62.432	8.9303	4.4631	4,407
111	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.511	50.066	9.7063	5.8017	6,207
112	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.507	66.008	7.6787	3.0200	4,905
113	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.496	55.568	8.4716	5.1297	3,806
=114	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.488	57.137	9.7246	3.5171	3,244
=114	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.488	61.852	8.3018	3.8045	2,825
116	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.475	57.525	6.6947	5.0624	3,166
117	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.469	52.029	8.8867	4.8133	2,994
118	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.467	47.551	10.1527	6.2380	2,587
119	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.462	57.549	7.7612	4.1041	2,454
120	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.460	59.890	6.0897	2.8724	5,230
=121	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.459	60.429	7.1611	4.0982	2,163
=121	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.459	61.532	8.3501	2.8314	2,138
123	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.446	60.435	5.7581	3.2244	3,452
124	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.442	53.956	9.1507	2.9448	2,220
125	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.433	53.043	7.2904	2.8112	3,524
126	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.426	61.134	4.5775	3.1191	3,335
127	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.423	61.788	6.7926	1.0919	3,168
=128	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.419	57.859	7.7435	3.2596	1,325
=128	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.419	46.148	7.4467	4.1616	3,340
130	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.418	45.709	8.3558	5.2084	2,036
131	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.413	51.220	6.2379	2.8501	3,684
132	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.401	56.154	6.0766	2.1200	2,482
133	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.399	59.896	7.8534	2.6906	919
134	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.396	51.807	5.6994	4.0520	1,749
=135	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.389	56.007	5.3719	2.1535	2,386
=135	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.389	57.076	5.0931	1.7779	2,995
137	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.386	48.263	7.2948	3.7909	1,420
138	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.385	49.664	6.7844	4.9099	1,053
139	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.384	44.300	10.9591	2.7100	1,256
140	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.342	51.610	4.5480	1.4171	2,275
141	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.338	52.487	5.2724	1.1938	1,554
142	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.328	47.089	4.7060	2.4372	1,409
143	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.327	56.426	3.1527	1.3558	2,264
=144	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.304	43.099	5.6448	2.3265	924
=144	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.304	42.714	5.7428	2.6094	875
=146	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.303	46.678	4.5655	1.8911	1,069
=146	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.303	49.592	3.7054	1.1234	1,770
148	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.292	48.212	5.2155	1.6692	661
149	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.258	47.807	2.5407	1.0680	1,234

02In 1998

At either end

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

Highest

#1Norway0.908
#2Sweden0.901
#3United States0.895
#4Icelandshared0.893
#4Netherlandsshared0.893

Lowest

#149Niger0.258
#148Mozambique0.292
#146Malishared0.303
#146Burundishared0.303
#144Sierra Leoneshared0.304

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.666. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
HighestJapan80.649
LowestSierra Leone42.714
Middle country: 69.875
Expected Years of Schooling
HighestAustralia20.4508
LowestNiger2.5407
Middle country: 11.4290
Mean Years of Schooling
HighestUnited States13.0300
LowestNiger1.0680
Middle country: 7.2837
GNI per Capita (2021 PPP $)
HighestQatar98,123
LowestMozambique661
Middle country: 9,892

031997 → 1998

Since 1997

What changed between 1997 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
144values changed, of 149 in both
132 · 12rose · fell
5unchanged

Rose most

Ireland0.823 → 0.855+0.032
Republic of the Congo0.516 → 0.542+0.026
Iraq0.565 → 0.580+0.015
Albania0.645 → 0.659+0.014
Slovenia0.789 → 0.802+0.013

Fell most

Honduras0.547 → 0.529−0.018
Eswatini0.523 → 0.511−0.012
South Africa0.642 → 0.634−0.008
Namibia0.580 → 0.574−0.006
Zimbabwe0.472 → 0.467−0.005

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 1998.
129 distinct values among 149
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.893. 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-1998-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 (1998). Human Development Index, 1998 [data set], describing 1998. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/human-development-index/1998

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Human Development Index, 1997
149 countries
The year after ›
Human Development Index, 1999
153 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