Data for 2021

Human Development Index, 2021

Name: Human Development Index, 2021
Creator: UNDP Human Development Report Office
License: https://hdr.undp.org/copyright-and-terms-use

2021, as UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Human Development Index, 2021 covers 192 countries on 5 measures. Norway is highest, at 0.969; Central African Republic is lowest, at 0.339. The middle country reads 0.745. Against 2020, 173 values changed (89 up, 84 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

Human Development Index · Data for 2021

HighestNorway

0.969

LowestCentral African Republic

0.339

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

192countries
5measures per country
2021the year it describes
162distinct 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, 2021, as published. The rank is UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own, as printed. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 192 countries · select a heading to sort

Human Development Index, 2021: every country, as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

1	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.969	83.166	18.638	13.11796	90,751
2	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.968	83.648	16.584	13.94912	80,308
3	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.967	82.843	19.107	13.90893	62,051
4	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.961	85.082	17.453	12.31000	70,450
=5	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.958	81.436	18.774	13.02732	72,638
=5	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.958	81.106	17.343	14.29637	64,326
=5	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.958	83.020	19.037	12.74033	66,040
8	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.954	83.564	21.080	12.78000	56,782
9	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.951	81.356	18.585	12.66995	68,775
10	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.949	81.814	19.229	12.97963	58,692
=11	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.948	81.659	18.946	12.68965	62,768
=11	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.948	83.485	16.903	12.08000	112,141
13	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.946	81.861	19.367	11.72500	85,210
14	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.941	80.708	17.668	13.49000	53,132
15	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.939	82.300	19.682	12.88300	46,919
16	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.937	81.976	15.961	13.87000	55,302
=17	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	0.933	82.788	15.413	12.40996	146,994
=17	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.933	83.852	16.510	12.72220	49,118
19	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.930	81.820	16.367	12.36147	64,408
20	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.924	80.434	17.407	12.95120	45,942
21	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.922	84.550	15.433	12.68405	46,679
22	United States`USA`Northern America	0.921	76.384	16.413	13.57550	71,609
=23	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.918	82.517	15.030	13.53459	45,526
=23	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.918	81.839	14.197	12.58937	94,503
25	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.915	82.322	16.020	11.76567	55,020
26	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.914	82.316	15.861	12.42070	48,071
27	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.912	82.951	17.809	10.75612	43,960
28	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.908	82.865	16.605	10.82813	50,539
29	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.907	80.573	16.243	12.55737	44,214
=30	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	0.903	83.539	14.600	11.29500	59,022
=30	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.903	79.083	14.214	12.77000	68,790
32	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.901	77.234	16.647	12.96318	46,442
33	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.899	77.409	15.943	13.56217	43,938
34	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.897	80.531	19.774	11.55386	32,764
35	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.887	74.297	16.284	13.61069	44,641
36	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.885	78.083	16.345	11.07500	50,855
37	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.884	75.639	16.432	13.20854	38,629
38	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.878	77.089	15.769	11.60643	48,459
=39	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.876	77.141	16.249	12.09512	37,240
=39	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.876	81.398	16.821	9.70325	38,395
=41	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	0.871	82.331	11.988	11.43500	59,332
=41	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.871	73.181	16.556	13.40944	36,095
43	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.866	81.083	12.204	10.56200	107,192
44	Chile`CHL`South America	0.865	78.876	16.768	11.29105	27,407
45	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.859	74.590	14.722	13.10320	36,696
46	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.852	74.185	15.074	12.33162	37,419
47	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.847	73.948	18.980	11.18458	25,561
48	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	0.843	77.197	15.503	11.64750	24,617
49	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.841	75.722	19.685	8.98624	31,225
50	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.840	73.789	15.581	12.77393	25,016
51	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.839	77.625	15.904	7.56601	58,124
52	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.838	71.220	18.225	11.19995	28,723
53	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.837	75.434	17.352	10.02000	26,279
54	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.835	74.869	13.699	9.28200	79,872
55	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.834	75.969	12.964	11.87000	36,293
56	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.829	72.740	14.508	11.46000	37,208
=57	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.819	71.635	16.581	12.74000	17,737
=57	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.819	77.004	13.312	10.83375	29,211
59	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	0.818	69.271	18.407	10.84940	25,460
=60	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.817	72.221	14.195	12.33537	26,598
=60	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.817	71.414	15.404	11.45453	28,237
=60	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.817	78.050	16.350	8.84475	22,149
63	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.816	70.131	14.418	12.54717	29,735
64	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.813	69.807	13.201	12.41000	38,030
65	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.807	72.853	14.610	11.64172	21,703
66	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.803	76.580	16.628	9.92836	14,466
67	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.802	73.917	12.932	10.94333	29,627
68	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.800	77.606	15.359	8.92667	19,576
69	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.796	71.111	14.238	10.77886	27,529
=70	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.794	76.844	14.609	10.17531	16,035
=70	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.794	70.752	11.891	12.81442	27,241
=70	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.794	78.117	15.479	8.03618	20,265
=73	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.789	72.903	14.163	10.10333	23,970
=73	Palau`PLW`Micronesia	0.789	68.563	14.768	13.29903	16,446
75	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.786	72.552	14.430	11.34498	16,404
76	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.783	74.567	13.277	10.75500	18,163
77	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	0.782	74.522	16.577	9.44640	13,065
=78	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.781	73.292	13.539	10.23000	21,390
=78	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	0.781	69.132	16.253	11.29535	15,370
=80	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.777	73.752	13.968	10.84671	15,037
=80	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.777	76.278	13.242	10.73000	13,995
82	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.773	68.991	14.639	11.82000	15,987
83	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.772	71.631	13.328	11.12274	17,517
84	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.768	73.038	15.579	8.42537	17,122
85	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.765	70.999	12.678	10.85500	19,694
86	Peru`PER`South America	0.764	71.596	14.909	10.15465	13,867
87	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.763	72.130	17.787	10.91495	7,177
=88	Colombia`COL`South America	0.762	72.698	14.437	9.03158	17,310
=88	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.762	71.757	13.437	9.44453	20,828
90	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.761	69.750	14.505	9.34951	20,588
91	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.755	75.208	15.395	7.41639	14,404
=92	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.754	69.353	12.920	11.20780	16,333
=92	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.754	74.145	15.231	8.80000	11,605
94	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.753	72.746	14.731	9.11000	13,243
95	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	0.749	69.832	14.151	10.12509	14,485
=96	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.745	73.201	14.469	10.63149	8,354
=96	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.745	78.052	12.568	7.41037	17,114
98	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.738	68.976	13.127	10.13612	15,359
99	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.736	74.204	12.861	10.38000	9,069
100	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.733	73.650	11.735	10.37000	11,088
101	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.729	72.062	12.925	7.77861	17,928
102	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.728	72.893	14.673	7.49328	11,840
=103	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.727	68.565	13.929	9.42000	12,768
=103	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.727	71.681	11.830	11.88000	8,204
105	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.724	69.119	12.710	8.61417	17,888
=106	Marshall Islands`MHL`Micronesia	0.723	65.421	16.118	11.63666	7,213
=106	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.723	68.108	13.617	8.93065	14,828
108	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.721	62.010	14.114	11.61000	13,902
109	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.720	67.072	12.483	9.68600	16,491
110	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	0.718	73.890	13.175	10.03500	6,797
=111	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.713	70.917	12.870	8.76229	11,188
=111	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.713	64.323	13.022	8.70243	21,902
113	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.707	67.452	13.438	8.69722	12,547
114	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.706	71.096	12.436	11.33298	5,991
115	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.705	64.904	13.849	10.37097	9,978
116	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.704	69.290	12.995	12.06589	5,412
117	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.703	69.085	12.383	9.82174	9,337
118	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.700	63.303	11.426	10.47800	16,504
119	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.697	68.943	10.959	8.42976	16,094
120	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.696	71.536	12.965	9.67839	6,130
121	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.693	61.427	15.611	10.02122	9,105
122	Nauru`NRU`Micronesia	0.692	61.331	12.843	9.44864	17,049
123	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.691	72.448	13.153	5.83579	12,664
=124	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.690	73.385	14.039	6.19800	8,463
=124	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.690	66.675	12.819	9.43362	9,110
126	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.687	70.704	12.359	6.78005	12,473
127	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.682	70.478	11.427	9.93302	6,438
128	Tuvalu`TUV`Polynesia	0.681	65.824	12.375	10.76746	6,815
129	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.672	69.594	10.850	11.27095	4,905
130	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.671	62.447	12.491	8.28133	13,555
=131	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.663	71.103	12.128	6.79000	7,754
=131	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.663	69.941	10.990	7.20000	10,087
133	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.658	58.228	15.246	8.48564	9,440
134	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.651	74.424	11.367	6.09004	6,660
135	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.647	67.282	12.402	6.53000	7,993
136	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.644	66.199	13.253	6.22658	7,593
137	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.643	64.192	12.682	8.32264	6,075
138	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.639	67.858	10.736	5.79153	11,806
=139	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	0.631	64.148	11.874	9.12858	4,732
=139	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.631	60.850	11.785	7.27315	10,378
=139	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.631	68.026	12.857	5.98756	5,733
142	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.628	69.492	10.162	7.51023	5,686
143	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.618	64.286	11.586	6.90987	6,344
144	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.615	69.952	11.812	7.18321	3,440
145	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.613	67.807	9.896	6.06025	7,649
146	Micronesia`FSM`Micronesia	0.611	66.152	11.540	7.33252	4,324
147	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.609	62.958	12.168	5.95617	6,806
148	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.608	61.225	11.474	8.15553	5,271
149	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.605	65.553	11.505	6.38000	5,056
150	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.596	68.385	12.435	4.50373	4,485
=151	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.594	69.301	11.179	5.19710	4,425
=151	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.594	65.201	13.294	5.86631	3,443
153	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.581	60.135	11.057	8.93085	3,217
154	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.577	68.890	11.313	5.87968	2,746
=155	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.574	61.146	10.683	6.57418	4,665
=155	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.574	62.363	11.021	7.39741	3,220
157	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.573	66.450	11.564	6.32366	2,629
158	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.571	72.418	7.419	5.93552	4,426
159	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.567	64.358	11.511	4.96253	3,818
160	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.562	66.850	12.010	4.87916	2,654
161	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.560	61.328	13.096	5.86111	2,653
162	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.557	60.290	10.198	4.87000	6,320
163	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.554	53.455	10.514	7.58597	5,514
164	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.553	66.762	7.950	4.85203	5,893
=165	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.548	62.613	10.896	5.38230	3,118
=165	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.548	66.131	8.586	5.94630	3,393
167	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.537	65.773	7.895	4.31699	5,484
168	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.532	54.209	10.987	7.72988	2,868
169	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.522	66.868	9.068	2.93455	4,150
170	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.513	63.847	8.978	4.67473	2,643
171	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.512	64.460	8.620	3.96200	3,286
172	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.509	64.782	9.903	5.24374	1,678
173	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.508	60.044	10.911	7.37856	1,309
174	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.506	59.610	10.372	3.19420	3,557
175	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.503	61.166	10.466	6.16989	1,462
176	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.502	61.653	10.635	3.67304	2,300
177	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.501	63.830	6.129	3.95042	5,927
178	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.496	66.940	7.337	5.09136	1,992
179	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.490	59.373	10.393	2.48634	3,210
180	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.487	65.330	9.218	2.40254	2,615
181	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.486	60.417	10.790	2.99000	2,152
182	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.481	62.516	9.063	4.59252	1,613
183	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.478	60.268	10.848	4.22524	1,410
=184	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.458	60.260	9.064	3.53530	1,605
=184	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.458	66.019	7.495	5.05184	1,084
186	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.454	60.046	8.733	2.26655	2,352
187	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.435	62.101	9.829	3.47394	867
188	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.414	59.116	7.011	1.63000	2,289
189	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.413	59.542	8.309	1.41229	1,567
190	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.408	53.136	8.348	2.33498	1,738
191	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.393	57.047	5.635	5.73000	760
192	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.339	40.279	7.436	3.98943	1,129

02In 2021

At either end

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

Highest

#1Norway0.969
#2Switzerland0.968
#3Iceland0.967
#4Hong Kong0.961
#5Germanyshared0.958

Lowest

#192Central African Republic0.339
#191South Sudan0.393
#190Chad0.408
#189Niger0.413
#188Mali0.414

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.745. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
HighestHong Kong85.082
LowestCentral African Republic40.279
Middle country: 71.166
Expected Years of Schooling
HighestAustralia21.080
LowestSouth Sudan5.635
Middle country: 13.303
Mean Years of Schooling
HighestGermany14.29637
LowestNiger1.41229
Middle country: 9.87505
GNI per Capita (2021 PPP $)
HighestLiechtenstein146,994
LowestSouth Sudan760
Middle country: 14,657

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
173values changed, of 192 in both
89 · 84rose · fell
19unchanged

Rose most

Libya0.688 → 0.729+0.041
Armenia0.761 → 0.786+0.025
Andorra0.851 → 0.871+0.020
Maldives0.730 → 0.745+0.015
Algeria0.742 → 0.755+0.013

Fell most

Central African Republic0.386 → 0.339−0.047
Paraguay0.742 → 0.723−0.019
Botswana0.718 → 0.700−0.018
Cuba0.762 → 0.745−0.017
Lebanon0.750 → 0.733−0.017

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 2021.
162 distinct values among 192
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.958. 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 192 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
192 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-2021-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 (2021). Human Development Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/human-development-index/2021

0634 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Human Development Index, 2020
192 countries
The year after ›
Human Development Index, 2022
192 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