Data for 2008

Human Development Index, 2008

Name: Human Development Index, 2008
Creator: UNDP Human Development Report Office
License: https://hdr.undp.org/copyright-and-terms-use

2008, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Human Development Index, 2008 covers 188 countries on 5 measures. Norway is highest, at 0.943; Niger is lowest, at 0.323. The middle country reads 0.718. Against 2007, 175 values changed (164 up, 11 down), 1 country joined.

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Human Development Index · Data for 2008

HighestNorway

0.943

LowestNiger

0.323

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

188countries
5measures per country
2008the year it describes
166distinct 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, 2008, 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 188 countries · select a heading to sort

Human Development Index, 2008: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.943	80.677	17.3786	12.4800	88,712.3
2	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.935	81.244	18.0052	12.7400	49,949.2
3	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.934	81.971	15.4864	12.8066	72,847.8
4	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.933	79.816	16.7366	13.7600	55,364.1
=5	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.924	81.427	22.0960	11.9400	47,441.5
=5	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.924	81.099	17.6109	10.4900	85,756.6
7	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.922	78.714	16.7155	12.8800	61,439.6
8	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.921	79.695	17.1040	12.3300	57,576.0
=9	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.920	80.387	16.8030	11.9100	61,132.4
=9	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.920	80.246	19.3154	13.3480	35,979.2
11	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.917	79.579	19.1373	11.1800	58,684.4
12	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.916	80.730	15.2364	13.4160	52,210.8
13	United States`USA`Northern America	0.914	78.127	16.2809	12.9900	58,996.1
14	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.913	81.137	15.7974	12.0700	58,257.3
15	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	0.912	81.855	14.8429	11.5150	158,634.9
16	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.910	79.655	16.0538	12.8100	50,365.0
=17	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.907	80.363	15.8611	11.4700	64,043.8
=17	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.907	82.340	15.7062	11.2100	57,524.7
=17	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.907	79.788	17.2619	11.4233	51,527.3
20	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.905	82.633	15.2387	12.4410	43,158.3
21	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	0.900	82.894	15.4317	9.7584	97,014.1
22	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.896	80.107	13.3386	12.2200	97,787.3
23	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.894	78.595	17.0560	11.9100	41,196.0
24	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.885	81.645	16.3522	9.6500	51,316.7
25	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.884	81.039	15.2978	10.6500	51,950.3
=26	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.878	81.283	14.5684	12.4200	33,328.6
=26	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.878	79.996	16.6917	10.9625	34,677.1
28	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.873	77.172	15.6799	12.1900	38,209.2
29	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.871	80.105	16.2845	10.1000	40,264.6
30	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.865	81.278	15.8737	9.1900	43,660.1
=31	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	0.864	83.855	11.8860	10.4700	60,691.4
=31	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.864	74.279	16.2976	13.2500	30,143.7
33	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.862	79.906	13.6666	11.2800	44,434.2
34	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.849	71.696	17.0985	12.3000	31,776.9
35	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.848	79.690	14.8957	10.0100	36,156.2
36	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.842	74.864	15.1470	11.8280	31,359.0
37	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.841	75.583	15.3814	12.1700	25,342.4
38	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.839	78.262	12.2256	9.5900	110,630.2
39	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.837	71.999	16.3224	12.3500	27,310.4
=40	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.833	75.428	16.3818	10.4100	27,101.6
=40	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.833	73.957	15.4488	11.5650	28,389.9
42	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.831	81.591	10.3720	9.4945	80,459.4
43	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	0.830	76.075	15.5651	10.2659	28,872.5
44	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.827	76.001	14.4947	10.7770	30,115.8
45	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.826	79.603	15.7375	7.7800	34,669.2
46	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.824	74.814	13.5386	8.6540	90,079.4
47	Chile`CHL`South America	0.820	78.752	14.8571	10.1100	22,040.6
48	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.815	73.216	15.4186	10.6700	26,626.3
49	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.807	67.862	14.3445	12.3000	34,838.1
50	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.806	75.001	14.4827	10.9650	20,842.9
51	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.805	76.889	13.7273	6.4300	85,987.5
52	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.804	77.457	12.8982	8.0989	48,703.5
53	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.801	73.445	11.6024	11.6960	33,709.7
54	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.796	70.349	15.4284	11.0973	21,938.9
55	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.794	75.300	15.6943	9.5990	17,454.4
56	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.792	75.301	12.7622	8.4711	43,636.3
57	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.791	73.338	14.1834	10.5900	21,086.2
58	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.788	77.589	17.5238	10.9680	7,320.0
59	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.783	76.275	14.5390	8.3700	21,590.6
=60	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.782	76.124	12.1246	7.9900	44,125.8
=60	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.782	71.117	12.4034	10.3000	34,530.7
=62	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	0.776	71.479	14.5864	9.1686	24,278.1
=62	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.776	68.262	15.0397	11.4395	18,264.9
=64	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	0.773	67.562	14.4926	12.5294	16,384.0
=64	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.773	73.904	13.7944	10.2400	16,247.6
=66	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	0.771	74.374	16.2379	8.9050	12,722.2
=66	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.771	66.759	14.5696	11.2650	22,263.7
68	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.769	79.180	13.1537	8.2900	17,122.9
69	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.767	75.937	12.8961	9.0000	19,687.9
=70	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.765	73.683	13.0679	9.3900	20,176.0
=70	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.765	75.151	12.3672	9.0675	22,251.6
72	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.759	72.578	14.0653	8.1400	22,169.6
73	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.757	70.949	13.4420	12.2680	10,758.7
74	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.754	71.936	15.0038	6.9620	23,998.0
75	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.753	74.436	13.3241	8.8320	16,060.7
76	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.750	73.695	13.1924	7.9500	21,126.8
=77	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.749	78.248	12.6278	9.2800	11,094.0
=77	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.749	72.963	13.4464	8.1889	19,617.6
79	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	0.745	71.945	14.4337	8.5813	14,644.9
80	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.743	72.519	11.6970	10.9800	12,864.9
81	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.742	73.124	13.4484	7.9145	18,096.9
82	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	0.741	70.611	13.5707	10.0476	12,954.8
83	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.739	73.111	15.0044	6.6700	16,499.6
84	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.734	76.956	11.4758	8.2518	15,286.1
85	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.733	73.563	12.8811	9.5200	10,755.5
=86	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.731	69.355	11.6371	10.5900	15,459.3
=86	Colombia`COL`South America	0.731	74.206	13.9930	7.3200	13,350.1
88	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.730	72.556	13.0950	10.4100	8,852.5
89	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.729	74.709	13.9560	7.7300	11,221.6
90	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.728	69.000	12.6241	11.3800	10,406.9
91	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.723	74.221	12.7240	7.2900	15,338.7
92	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.721	74.380	12.5403	6.4000	19,789.4
93	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.720	70.665	12.8324	9.5060	11,149.4
94	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.719	76.300	12.8328	6.9008	12,612.5
95	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.717	71.041	15.1408	10.4100	5,762.4
96	Peru`PER`South America	0.714	72.743	13.2157	8.1900	10,428.6
=97	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.711	73.618	13.4346	6.2900	14,208.6
=97	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.711	71.502	13.6874	8.1895	9,884.0
99	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.709	74.192	13.9759	6.3100	11,234.0
100	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.707	67.086	13.7496	9.8400	9,543.2
101	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.704	71.331	12.8126	7.1933	13,444.4
102	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.702	71.531	11.9404	11.4520	5,767.2
103	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.701	68.873	11.1113	7.9017	20,112.7
104	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.700	72.047	12.8046	7.3900	11,136.1
105	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.690	66.320	12.7194	9.3790	9,755.6
106	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.689	74.833	12.5195	6.8720	8,620.7
107	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.683	67.584	9.5677	10.8684	9,788.9
108	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.681	75.999	12.0662	4.3345	15,812.7
109	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	0.679	72.204	13.4327	8.0100	5,678.5
110	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.675	64.011	11.8668	7.3100	18,863.0
111	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.672	73.455	12.2894	7.3299	6,459.6
112	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.668	65.299	15.3045	7.2000	7,003.1
113	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.666	66.616	12.2317	10.8030	4,899.3
114	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.665	68.761	11.0065	6.8982	12,796.8
115	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.663	69.035	11.4575	10.7889	4,384.1
116	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.662	68.643	11.5578	8.7100	6,670.2
117	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.660	73.368	11.6119	6.1900	8,029.9
=118	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.653	70.138	12.1669	6.0300	8,447.9
=118	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.653	68.085	11.9752	7.0700	7,957.3
120	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.646	71.404	10.8846	7.7997	5,518.5
121	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.645	57.661	11.7297	8.6340	14,958.2
=122	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.643	71.888	12.0166	5.5986	6,880.5
=122	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.643	55.982	12.4759	9.2200	12,894.9
124	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0.636	64.516	11.2305	9.2335	5,530.1
=125	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.634	66.465	10.3541	6.2463	11,747.4
=125	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.634	67.924	10.9967	11.0918	2,951.6
=125	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.634	62.858	12.5684	4.9892	14,258.9
128	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.632	65.721	11.0310	6.9807	8,201.6
129	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	0.614	59.675	11.1956	7.8014	8,141.0
130	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.613	57.384	8.5322	7.1571	26,021.2
131	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.609	69.493	10.5770	4.0333	9,832.8
132	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	0.600	64.849	11.0151	7.5746	4,109.2
133	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	0.596	65.746	10.5071	8.1961	3,394.3
134	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.593	70.051	10.3626	4.0600	6,882.7
135	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.592	69.657	10.1114	5.1075	5,402.8
136	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.591	60.790	9.6414	7.5430	6,588.4
137	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.581	54.740	11.4632	6.2876	10,069.4
138	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.578	69.302	10.4276	5.8567	3,224.5
139	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.574	66.247	10.8686	4.8491	4,434.0
140	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.557	63.448	10.0681	5.1127	4,461.2
141	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.556	68.336	11.1459	5.4120	2,256.5
142	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.553	59.955	10.3281	6.2337	4,002.0
143	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.546	60.578	9.9097	5.6400	4,142.1
144	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.539	66.147	11.0558	4.0300	2,721.6
145	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.538	67.047	8.4114	4.9600	3,546.2
146	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.537	62.248	9.5533	4.8295	4,041.1
147	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.528	61.280	10.3569	4.5434	3,276.0
148	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.526	66.442	10.3931	3.3640	2,889.8
149	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.519	61.955	10.2727	3.9729	3,117.2
150	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.514	54.835	10.9873	6.1189	2,699.9
151	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.512	65.233	6.9737	3.6611	5,720.1
152	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.507	45.853	11.5816	5.2985	7,770.7
153	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.504	55.281	8.2377	3.7476	8,222.3
154	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.502	58.253	10.7055	5.1500	2,077.8
155	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.501	56.116	9.5297	4.0600	4,191.9
156	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.497	50.748	8.4939	6.1566	4,889.3
157	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.496	64.002	6.0046	4.5300	4,232.5
158	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.495	59.896	8.7493	4.9900	2,451.9
159	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.492	66.609	7.8686	2.5671	3,722.7
160	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.490	61.992	9.4175	4.6129	1,819.1
161	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.489	62.511	7.6827	3.9118	3,112.6
162	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.479	60.641	10.8187	3.4757	1,632.3
163	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.475	58.099	9.9191	2.5361	2,874.9
164	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.468	56.364	8.9423	3.5406	2,713.0
165	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.465	56.651	10.4103	3.3245	1,922.0
166	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.463	44.304	11.2644	5.5400	3,390.5
167	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.462	63.201	7.7762	1.8800	3,403.9
168	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.459	58.675	9.9238	4.0405	1,385.8
169	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.457	62.422	7.6651	4.6885	1,381.5
=170	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.456	61.261	7.1602	3.0500	2,678.8
=170	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.456	48.456	10.6519	7.4620	1,400.8
=172	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.455	60.473	7.5327	2.9658	2,602.8
=172	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.455	55.715	10.4059	4.2297	1,395.1
174	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.452	54.179	7.5138	3.8916	3,081.4
175	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.446	59.708	8.6308	1.7428	2,496.7
176	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.436	55.300	9.3324	2.5660	1,891.7
177	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.426	55.388	8.1977	5.5600	980.4
178	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.422	55.703	8.1251	1.5529	2,641.6
179	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.403	53.799	9.8157	2.2899	1,082.5
180	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.401	55.581	9.3406	2.4300	980.3
=181	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.400	59.815	4.5919	2.2934	2,951.1
=181	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.400	50.693	8.0467	3.2538	1,493.2
183	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.398	57.733	7.9138	2.0575	1,212.8
184	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.395	55.187	6.8515	1.6720	2,145.0
185	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.362	49.873	5.7243	3.1245	1,335.7
186	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.357	55.199	5.7044	1.0243	1,779.7
187	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.354	49.503	6.3405	1.7040	1,623.8
188	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.323	55.852	4.0394	1.4669	1,228.9

02In 2008

At either end

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

Highest

#1Norway0.943
#2Iceland0.935
#3Switzerland0.934
#4Germany0.933
#5Australiashared0.924

Lowest

#188Niger0.323
#187Chad0.354
#186Burkina Faso0.357
#185Central African Republic0.362
#184Mali0.395

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.718. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
HighestAndorra83.855
LowestLesotho44.304
Middle country: 71.491
Expected Years of Schooling
HighestAustralia22.0960
LowestNiger4.0394
Middle country: 12.5963
Mean Years of Schooling
HighestGermany13.7600
LowestBurkina Faso1.0243
Middle country: 8.1892
GNI per Capita (2021 PPP $)
HighestLiechtenstein158,634.9
LowestBurundi980.3
Middle country: 12,759.5

032007 → 2008

Since 2007

What changed between 2007 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
175values changed, of 187 in both
164 · 11rose · fell
12unchanged

Rose most

Nauru0.581 → 0.614+0.033
Timor-Leste0.609 → 0.634+0.025
Romania0.792 → 0.815+0.023
North Macedonia0.732 → 0.753+0.021
Cameroon0.485 → 0.501+0.016

Fell most

Eritrea0.472 → 0.457−0.015
Myanmar0.483 → 0.468−0.015
Iceland0.941 → 0.935−0.006
Syria0.665 → 0.660−0.005
Ireland0.911 → 0.907−0.004

+ Sudan

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 2008.
166 distinct values among 188
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.907. 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 188 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
188 rows · 14 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download human-development-index-2008-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 (2008). Human Development Index, 2008 [data set], describing 2008. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/human-development-index/2008

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Human Development Index, 2007
187 countries
The year after ›
Human Development Index, 2009
187 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