Data for 1999

Human Development Index, 1999

Name: Human Development Index, 1999
Creator: UNDP Human Development Report Office
License: https://hdr.undp.org/copyright-and-terms-use

1999, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Human Development Index, 1999 covers 153 countries on 5 measures. Norway is highest, at 0.913; Niger is lowest, at 0.263. The middle country reads 0.668. Against 1998, 145 values changed (132 up, 13 down), 4 countries joined.

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Human Development Index · Data for 1999

HighestNorway

0.913

LowestNiger

0.263

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

153countries
5measures per country
1999the year it describes
135distinct 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, 1999, as published. The rank is UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own, as printed. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 153 countries · select a heading to sort

Human Development Index, 1999: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.913	78.386	17.0981	12.0443	60,531
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.906	79.508	18.8115	11.2633	46,933
=3	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.895	79.236	16.7710	11.6080	45,249
=3	United States`USA`Northern America	0.895	76.669	15.5913	12.9950	53,221
=5	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.894	76.578	16.4301	12.3100	52,363
=5	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.894	77.968	16.3170	11.7148	54,121
7	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.893	79.277	20.6153	11.2955	36,591
8	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.892	77.798	16.0917	12.2189	48,701
=9	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.889	77.648	17.6034	10.4547	52,732
=9	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.889	77.451	17.2700	11.1946	47,578
=9	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.889	79.724	14.9796	10.6067	71,756
12	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.888	78.885	15.8080	12.3120	41,197
13	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.886	77.911	17.6902	12.5360	29,374
14	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.885	80.613	14.9566	12.0405	40,932
15	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.875	77.271	16.7581	9.3160	65,153
16	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.874	77.955	15.1579	11.0157	53,884
17	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.862	77.373	15.8036	10.5766	43,251
=18	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.858	76.089	16.3253	10.3900	42,336
=18	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.858	76.986	13.4934	10.3820	86,093
20	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.856	78.746	15.7231	9.2793	47,005
21	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.845	79.205	15.0948	8.6217	49,259
22	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.839	78.891	14.6808	10.5187	29,528
23	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.830	80.389	12.1740	10.1390	41,702
24	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.825	78.944	15.7281	7.6515	37,250
25	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.821	75.617	15.3026	10.4960	25,081
26	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.820	75.454	14.7013	10.1685	30,364
27	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.816	78.423	14.3463	8.9743	30,762
28	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.806	74.741	13.3911	10.7993	27,741
29	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.802	77.572	12.2191	9.7475	33,121
30	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.796	75.048	12.4302	7.5372	96,818
=31	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.793	73.224	14.7362	11.1155	17,634
=31	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.793	76.322	15.6607	6.7100	32,775
33	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.790	73.806	11.5722	8.2440	90,235
34	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.784	77.752	13.7667	7.3782	30,314
=35	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.783	73.683	15.1733	8.7340	22,263
=35	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.783	72.147	11.4463	10.9370	32,889
37	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.780	74.982	10.3206	8.2332	90,830
38	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.776	70.681	14.2157	11.9206	14,920
39	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.773	75.722	12.1441	6.1346	72,444
40	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.771	71.040	13.9578	10.1018	20,815
41	Chile`CHL`South America	0.766	76.738	13.0831	9.0748	16,711
42	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.765	72.963	13.1517	9.6400	19,810
43	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.762	71.717	13.5840	10.7641	14,716
44	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.761	74.405	11.1632	7.7500	46,363
45	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.760	74.293	14.1320	8.1043	19,154
46	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.756	74.587	14.1842	8.9962	13,441
=47	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.753	73.609	12.1039	9.3160	20,074
=47	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.753	69.648	13.6702	11.3305	13,146
49	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.740	65.595	12.2758	11.7661	18,358
50	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.729	72.290	11.2999	6.5515	39,848
51	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.728	71.561	12.8988	9.4467	11,942
=52	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.724	70.601	15.8887	5.4020	17,857
=52	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.724	70.581	12.1512	9.3830	14,445
54	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.723	72.428	12.1551	8.1225	16,246
55	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.717	77.058	11.3078	7.4994	13,781
56	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.716	68.419	12.8671	10.2972	10,554
57	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.714	68.004	12.8800	10.7126	9,602
58	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.712	73.124	12.0940	7.8330	13,525
=59	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.708	70.692	12.2119	7.3742	17,315
=59	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.708	68.509	11.2664	8.7750	18,073
61	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.706	72.203	11.8447	6.5890	19,812
62	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.703	69.686	11.8224	8.1973	14,709
63	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.698	72.088	10.4806	7.5736	17,585
64	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.692	70.427	12.2876	10.3417	6,158
65	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.690	75.719	12.2335	9.9042	4,404
66	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.688	69.431	13.2205	10.0420	5,711
67	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.685	69.994	13.0866	7.3482	9,519
68	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.684	69.211	14.5426	5.1007	13,051
69	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.683	63.528	12.1174	9.5400	12,406
70	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.682	71.920	12.5193	7.2635	8,581
71	Peru`PER`South America	0.680	69.302	12.9740	8.3045	7,488
=72	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.675	71.390	11.7045	6.2560	12,536
=72	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.675	72.308	11.4585	6.4562	11,480
74	Colombia`COL`South America	0.673	70.913	11.7180	6.8109	10,676
75	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.672	70.555	11.7574	10.7716	4,359
76	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.671	74.568	10.6338	8.4689	6,231
77	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.668	71.737	11.8717	7.1670	7,747
78	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.667	66.728	12.0437	8.1127	9,166
=79	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.664	68.976	11.7039	6.9971	9,969
=79	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.664	69.774	11.9709	6.6882	9,535
81	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.662	71.189	10.5010	7.4380	9,171
82	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.661	70.418	10.8710	10.4201	4,486
83	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.653	61.658	11.4583	5.9640	25,760
=84	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.652	70.178	10.9316	6.3565	10,024
=84	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.652	70.752	10.5322	5.3071	14,830
86	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.650	70.979	11.0979	5.5513	10,927
=87	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.646	64.733	11.4845	10.2600	5,087
=87	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.646	72.344	12.2858	4.7931	8,380
89	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.643	70.088	10.9833	5.4538	10,963
90	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.634	67.010	10.6945	6.3570	9,865
91	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.628	67.503	11.5412	7.5310	5,055
92	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.626	59.190	12.1392	7.6679	9,401
93	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.624	61.655	13.6860	6.9878	5,976
94	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.619	64.916	11.1390	10.2900	3,278
95	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0.608	63.346	10.4599	8.1781	5,207
96	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.602	62.835	8.6823	8.9561	5,833
97	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.598	67.285	10.5519	4.8500	7,271
98	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.596	72.575	10.3737	5.4677	3,968
=99	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.595	66.001	10.8843	5.6781	5,505
=99	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.595	70.507	9.9536	4.3450	7,059
101	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.592	52.499	11.6383	7.4300	12,375
102	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.589	64.532	8.2980	5.5257	11,560
103	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.587	71.952	9.6487	5.9220	3,662
104	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.585	65.892	9.7324	6.7101	4,428
105	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.565	53.983	12.0142	5.7820	7,665
106	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.562	63.772	10.0120	5.9331	3,918
107	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.556	66.634	8.1681	3.8479	8,617
108	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.554	67.001	10.9775	5.0535	2,685
109	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.552	68.005	9.0484	4.5301	4,256
110	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.546	63.114	9.3548	10.6931	1,394
111	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.544	54.427	9.3680	7.1612	5,660
112	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.517	66.404	8.0909	3.1400	4,923
113	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.504	48.808	9.7096	5.6918	6,411
114	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.499	55.866	8.4314	5.2783	3,772
115	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.496	62.284	8.3139	3.9736	3,018
116	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.493	57.692	9.7861	3.6267	3,268
117	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.480	57.835	6.8373	5.1424	3,224
118	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.469	57.866	7.8828	4.1759	2,622
119	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.468	61.244	7.3637	4.1910	2,230
120	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.467	60.443	6.2723	2.9456	5,287
121	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.464	62.035	8.4652	2.8632	2,218
=122	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.462	50.385	8.8352	4.9086	3,019
=122	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.462	46.379	10.2544	6.3910	2,507
124	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.454	61.505	5.9505	3.2946	3,396
125	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.446	54.310	9.3171	3.0145	2,196
126	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.436	57.434	7.6482	3.7711	1,675
127	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.434	53.166	7.1641	2.8962	3,599
128	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.431	61.540	4.6199	3.2207	3,395
=129	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.429	58.611	7.8510	3.3162	1,449
=129	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.429	62.275	6.9912	1.2145	3,088
131	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.425	46.609	7.6773	4.3378	3,239
132	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.423	45.924	8.4587	5.2994	2,107
133	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.416	51.273	6.3590	2.9950	3,552
134	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.407	56.336	6.2537	2.2050	2,541
135	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.406	60.107	7.8816	2.7619	1,008
136	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.404	52.399	6.0044	4.1408	1,778
137	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.403	50.412	8.4249	3.4517	1,430
138	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.398	48.977	7.8524	3.8682	1,484
139	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.396	56.466	5.5880	2.1962	2,466
=140	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.392	45.060	11.1870	2.8620	1,265
=140	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.392	57.315	5.2136	1.7470	3,093
142	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.383	50.089	6.8611	5.0255	946
143	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.379	45.808	4.3949	3.3871	4,743
144	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.351	51.987	4.8937	1.4307	2,350
145	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.347	54.532	5.5644	1.2289	1,425
146	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.333	56.564	3.2458	1.4290	2,312
147	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.332	46.910	4.8078	2.5152	1,469
148	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.317	45.749	5.6448	2.3914	956
149	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.314	50.060	4.1002	1.1539	1,830
150	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.306	47.627	4.5826	1.9450	1,029
151	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.304	48.837	5.5696	1.7116	724
152	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.301	41.962	5.9619	2.6914	813
153	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.263	48.480	2.6268	1.1144	1,206

02In 1999

At either end

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

Highest

#1Norway0.913
#2Sweden0.906
#3Icelandshared0.895
#3United Statesshared0.895
#5Denmarkshared0.894

Lowest

#153Niger0.263
#152Sierra Leone0.301
#151Mozambique0.304
#150Burundi0.306
#149Mali0.314

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.668. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
HighestJapan80.613
LowestSierra Leone41.962
Middle country: 69.994
Expected Years of Schooling
HighestAustralia20.6153
LowestNiger2.6268
Middle country: 11.5412
Mean Years of Schooling
HighestUnited States12.9950
LowestNiger1.1144
Middle country: 7.3482
GNI per Capita (2021 PPP $)
HighestQatar96,818
LowestMozambique724
Middle country: 9,602

031998 → 1999

Since 1998

What changed between 1998 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+4 / −0countries joined / left
145values changed, of 149 in both
132 · 13rose · fell
4unchanged

Rose most

Honduras0.529 → 0.552+0.023
Slovenia0.802 → 0.820+0.018
Nicaragua0.569 → 0.585+0.016
Latvia0.738 → 0.753+0.015
Luxembourg0.845 → 0.858+0.013

Fell most

Serbia0.699 → 0.685−0.014
Namibia0.574 → 0.565−0.009
South Africa0.634 → 0.626−0.008
Eswatini0.511 → 0.504−0.007
Lesotho0.469 → 0.462−0.007

+ Angola

+ Liberia

+ Madagascar

+ Solomon Islands

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 1999.
135 distinct values among 153
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.889. 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 153 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
153 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-1999-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 (1999). Human Development Index, 1999 [data set], describing 1999. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/human-development-index/1999

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Human Development Index, 1998
149 countries
The year after ›
Human Development Index, 2000
171 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