Data for 2003

Human Development Index, 2003

Name: Human Development Index, 2003
Creator: UNDP Human Development Report Office
License: https://hdr.undp.org/copyright-and-terms-use

2003, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Human Development Index, 2003 covers 173 countries on 5 measures. Norway is highest, at 0.930; Niger is lowest, at 0.284. The middle country reads 0.691. Against 2002, 168 values changed (159 up, 9 down), 1 country joined.

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Human Development Index · Data for 2003

HighestNorway

0.930

LowestNiger

0.284

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

173countries
5measures per country
2003the year it describes
146distinct 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, 2003, 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 173 countries · select a heading to sort

Human Development Index, 2003: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.930	79.529	17.4219	12.193	68,728.7
2	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.925	80.768	18.2440	12.177	48,958.7
3	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.923	80.195	18.5567	11.997	51,187.0
4	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.915	78.533	18.2944	12.090	51,589.1
5	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.914	78.536	16.3783	13.455	49,959.1
6	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.910	79.141	18.6466	13.170	34,116.8
7	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.907	77.401	16.3617	12.970	55,080.6
8	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.906	80.440	21.2734	11.454	40,488.3
9	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.903	78.320	18.7029	10.833	55,124.5
10	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.902	79.736	15.5201	12.924	45,790.2
=11	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.901	78.665	16.3619	11.790	56,306.5
=11	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.901	80.532	15.1020	10.979	75,080.0
13	United States`USA`Northern America	0.900	77.137	15.8279	12.855	56,287.3
=14	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	0.897	80.238	14.3599	11.423	125,492.6
=14	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.897	79.178	16.9162	9.952	70,448.5
16	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.896	81.854	15.0820	12.218	42,294.6
17	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.891	78.100	17.2259	10.950	50,097.1
18	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.889	78.849	15.4580	11.379	57,498.6
19	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	0.888	81.330	15.5619	9.276	90,860.9
20	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.886	78.330	16.1082	11.462	48,521.1
21	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.870	77.262	13.4177	11.260	82,446.1
22	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.866	80.191	15.9122	9.055	51,609.8
23	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.865	76.317	16.6979	11.498	34,241.4
24	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.862	79.419	14.8687	10.048	48,880.7
25	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.861	81.142	13.6456	10.631	45,902.6
26	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.852	77.497	15.9786	10.992	30,139.4
27	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.847	79.819	14.7711	10.725	29,427.1
28	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.846	79.748	15.8905	8.442	41,639.2
=29	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.842	75.396	15.1632	11.554	31,750.6
=29	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.842	79.085	15.1559	9.491	36,360.9
31	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	0.840	82.718	10.5971	10.070	63,656.0
32	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.835	78.908	13.3430	10.398	37,753.2
33	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.824	71.923	16.0907	12.690	20,693.5
34	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.822	74.772	15.8075	11.570	19,881.6
35	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.818	78.696	14.3726	8.856	32,523.9
36	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.812	72.088	16.2115	11.501	20,180.1
37	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.810	79.600	10.3435	8.785	87,872.2
38	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.808	77.583	15.7598	7.150	33,738.9
39	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.807	72.513	15.4384	10.535	25,224.5
=40	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.804	74.307	16.2664	9.920	19,287.9
=40	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.804	74.509	12.2216	8.404	94,149.0
=40	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.804	76.097	11.9089	8.138	98,550.4
43	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.799	75.486	12.9804	8.271	49,759.5
=44	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.798	74.709	13.8675	10.172	24,671.3
=44	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.798	70.636	15.7210	11.965	17,636.1
46	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.796	73.819	14.0401	10.708	22,102.0
47	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.795	76.304	13.4650	6.151	75,690.3
48	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.794	73.213	11.5154	11.286	33,686.1
49	Chile`CHL`South America	0.789	77.884	13.7468	9.562	18,339.8
50	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.780	75.086	15.5457	8.950	16,034.2
51	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.772	64.715	14.3370	12.200	24,331.6
52	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.771	74.865	14.7116	9.307	14,778.3
53	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.764	74.226	12.5343	10.440	16,107.6
=54	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.762	72.373	13.6649	10.192	15,670.4
=54	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.762	73.657	12.4662	7.308	40,793.4
56	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	0.751	73.291	15.8631	8.683	10,796.1
=57	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	0.749	65.446	13.9965	12.239	14,810.0
=57	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.749	70.819	12.9634	9.862	17,349.2
59	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.747	68.429	14.3741	10.645	13,463.0
60	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.745	67.638	14.2719	11.135	13,041.4
61	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.740	69.454	11.7114	9.453	24,431.1
=62	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.739	70.996	15.8035	6.096	19,975.9
=62	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.739	74.521	11.5663	6.270	40,297.8
64	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.737	73.727	12.6256	7.922	18,320.5
65	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.736	78.214	11.9167	7.856	14,399.0
66	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.735	74.567	12.8243	8.300	13,947.8
67	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.733	71.377	13.3216	11.978	7,248.7
=68	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.732	70.464	12.2815	9.119	17,759.4
=68	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.732	64.753	13.4425	10.530	18,224.1
=70	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	0.728	71.942	14.7081	7.988	11,417.7
=70	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.728	73.308	12.5887	7.132	19,853.7
=72	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.721	77.405	13.4490	10.303	5,018.2
=72	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.721	72.188	12.4102	7.736	16,728.6
74	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.720	72.722	13.1962	8.123	12,006.6
75	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	0.715	70.430	12.5890	9.635	10,531.3
76	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.713	72.442	12.6465	10.512	6,902.8
77	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.709	72.307	12.9054	6.905	14,609.4
78	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.707	72.056	11.6643	7.846	14,594.7
=79	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.705	75.557	11.4340	8.951	8,175.5
=79	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.705	70.884	14.7461	5.803	13,667.5
=81	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.703	73.632	13.1579	7.492	9,365.8
=81	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.703	70.228	14.1258	10.058	5,974.1
83	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.700	73.047	12.0145	7.405	12,092.3
84	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.696	69.819	12.8497	7.686	11,655.2
85	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.693	72.585	12.5805	7.800	8,732.8
86	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.692	71.734	10.5875	10.630	7,003.1
=87	Colombia`COL`South America	0.691	72.309	12.4070	7.018	10,991.9
=87	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.691	72.906	12.2265	5.758	15,533.3
89	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.690	72.101	11.9403	6.816	12,766.2
=90	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.689	76.449	11.7706	6.652	9,326.5
=90	Peru`PER`South America	0.689	71.278	12.3293	8.541	7,973.2
92	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.687	71.441	11.7337	11.072	4,949.6
93	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.677	71.906	12.1388	5.832	12,508.4
94	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.676	67.036	11.5765	10.420	6,828.2
=95	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.673	65.653	12.2268	8.676	9,606.2
=95	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.673	70.795	12.4935	7.110	8,261.8
=95	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.673	73.304	12.9983	5.464	9,262.2
98	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.670	70.856	11.7614	6.699	10,216.3
99	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.668	71.585	10.3432	7.772	9,506.5
100	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.664	62.463	11.6381	6.612	23,706.1
101	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.654	73.263	12.0197	3.483	15,073.2
102	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.648	68.049	11.7310	8.373	5,620.3
103	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.645	63.455	14.8279	7.086	6,020.7
=104	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.643	68.045	10.7325	6.393	10,490.7
=104	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.643	64.135	11.1309	9.340	6,519.4
106	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.642	65.448	12.0387	10.518	3,868.4
=107	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.630	73.385	10.8525	6.402	5,056.4
=107	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.630	73.236	11.1579	6.275	4,915.3
109	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.628	68.792	11.8441	5.353	7,468.4
=110	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.625	67.134	11.1887	6.771	6,411.8
=110	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.625	66.852	11.2639	10.328	3,018.4
=112	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.621	72.188	10.4732	5.106	7,226.2
=112	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0.621	63.897	10.7917	8.647	5,386.0
114	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.615	68.749	10.6761	7.158	4,678.3
115	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.610	54.245	11.6411	8.760	10,416.8
116	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.606	70.006	11.1935	5.419	4,916.7
117	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.602	52.851	11.5905	8.012	12,654.1
118	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	0.601	64.915	10.7865	7.717	4,220.3
=119	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.587	64.117	10.4539	6.263	5,191.0
=119	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.587	65.874	10.3099	10.909	1,861.9
121	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.582	64.834	9.1556	5.848	6,736.9
122	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.577	68.204	9.1938	3.800	8,838.8
123	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.568	68.874	9.5208	4.798	4,472.8
124	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.560	67.958	9.6951	3.578	5,715.4
125	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.558	51.918	11.8103	5.960	8,626.8
126	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.553	57.131	8.5892	7.407	5,614.6
127	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.543	67.479	11.0520	5.210	2,057.3
128	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.541	54.791	7.0095	6.670	10,960.5
129	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.534	60.130	10.7195	4.190	4,188.2
130	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.529	64.086	9.4890	4.374	3,424.5
131	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.515	57.369	8.8047	5.774	3,625.1
132	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.508	59.440	10.0358	4.059	3,188.3
133	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.503	64.288	8.1742	4.560	2,612.9
134	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.496	59.643	8.6821	4.463	2,993.3
135	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.495	59.014	7.1272	5.366	3,480.5
136	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.488	62.345	10.3261	3.561	1,836.4
137	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.486	64.229	8.8606	3.104	2,436.2
138	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.485	60.240	9.0284	3.187	3,050.9
139	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.482	62.805	6.4347	3.251	5,029.3
140	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.469	44.632	9.7073	4.949	6,402.0
141	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.467	64.407	7.8570	1.778	3,474.5
142	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.465	54.253	8.5562	3.214	3,882.6
=143	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.464	48.618	8.4712	5.043	4,102.7
=143	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.464	61.741	6.7204	3.544	2,946.9
145	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.460	55.299	9.9806	3.201	2,205.6
=146	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.458	59.693	8.3496	4.298	1,592.0
=146	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.458	62.834	4.7896	4.078	3,599.0
=146	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.458	49.616	9.2111	5.664	2,330.6
149	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.456	44.921	10.4717	5.629	3,095.7
150	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.450	45.373	10.2888	6.952	1,991.0
151	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.446	52.414	10.0828	4.275	1,618.1
152	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.444	55.929	7.2243	4.415	2,024.4
153	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.443	61.196	8.1874	3.080	1,562.2
154	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.442	57.092	7.9860	2.473	2,707.6
155	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.435	50.218	6.1028	3.546	5,932.5
156	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.429	53.045	10.2133	3.721	1,240.6
157	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.425	51.443	6.8722	3.424	3,158.0
158	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.422	58.223	6.4523	2.489	2,523.6
159	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.416	59.474	6.3192	1.515	3,226.6
160	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.414	49.601	10.7958	3.470	1,192.1
=161	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.398	52.952	7.1680	5.319	888.6
=161	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.398	53.529	8.3148	2.807	1,205.1
163	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.392	57.171	6.7324	1.419	1,982.5
164	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.384	53.589	6.2767	1.485	2,573.9
165	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.360	58.041	3.8355	1.763	2,410.1
166	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.354	46.784	6.8349	3.048	1,162.9
167	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.352	52.632	5.2742	1.290	2,056.9
168	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.350	51.383	7.3604	1.985	871.1
169	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.338	47.306	5.2151	2.811	1,271.9
170	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.332	50.997	5.5236	2.161	959.7
171	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.320	48.609	5.6342	1.430	1,110.7
172	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.317	52.877	5.1785	1.705	804.9
173	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.284	51.545	2.9712	1.288	1,194.8

02In 2003

At either end

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

Highest

#1Norway0.930
#2Iceland0.925
#3Sweden0.923
#4Finland0.915
#5Germany0.914

Lowest

#173Niger0.284
#172Ethiopia0.317
#171Chad0.320
#170Burundi0.332
#169Central African Republic0.338

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.691. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
HighestAndorra82.718
LowestEswatini44.632
Middle country: 70.884
Expected Years of Schooling
HighestAustralia21.2734
LowestNiger2.9712
Middle country: 11.9403
Mean Years of Schooling
HighestGermany13.455
LowestNiger1.288
Middle country: 7.772
GNI per Capita (2021 PPP $)
HighestLiechtenstein125,492.6
LowestEthiopia804.9
Middle country: 10,490.7

032002 → 2003

Since 2002

What changed between 2002 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
168values changed, of 172 in both
159 · 9rose · fell
4unchanged

Rose most

Angola0.417 → 0.435+0.018
Cambodia0.473 → 0.488+0.015
Mozambique0.335 → 0.350+0.015
Georgia0.719 → 0.733+0.014
Uganda0.432 → 0.446+0.014

Fell most

Liberia0.453 → 0.429−0.024
Iraq0.600 → 0.582−0.018
Venezuela0.716 → 0.707−0.009
Zimbabwe0.459 → 0.450−0.009
Paraguay0.679 → 0.673−0.006

+ Montenegro

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 2003.
146 distinct values among 173
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.804. 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 173 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
173 rows · 13 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download human-development-index-2003-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 (2003). Human Development Index, 2003 [data set], describing 2003. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/human-development-index/2003

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Human Development Index, 2002
172 countries
The year after ›
Human Development Index, 2004
175 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