UNDP Human Development Report Office · Coefficient of Human Inequality
Coefficient of human inequality by country
How unevenly are health, education and income shared?
Of the 169 countries compared in 2023, Slovenia had the lowest reading, 4.865%, and Somalia had the highest reading, 43.077%. In the middle country the figure was 17.048%. Among the 112 countries measured in every edition since 2010, the middle one moved from 18.575% to 16.287%.
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Coefficient of human inequality · 2023
Context statistic
Lowest of 169Slovenia
4.865%012023 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 169 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Z.K. derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: Hansueli Krapf · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3Photo: john mcsporran from Trossachs, Scotland · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
Highest in 2023
Somalia43.077%
South Sudan41.692%
Burkina Faso40.182%
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
Lowest on each continent
- Africa
Seychelles10.836% - Americas
Canada7.489% - Asia
Azerbaijan6.790% - EuropeSlovenia4.865%
- Oceania
Australia8.585% - Every region
02Every measured country
Coefficient of human inequality on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 32.539–43.077%
- 20.983–32.418%
- 14.306–20.659%
- 8.620–14.198%
- 4.865–8.585%
- No reading in 2023 (1 measured in an earlier edition)
- Europe
7.986%
the middle country, of 40 measured · 49 members
Slovenia4.865%
Bosnia and Herzegovina13.766%Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Oceania
14.680%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 21 members
Australia8.585%
Papua New Guinea26.510%Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Asia
15.817%
the middle country, of 40 measured · 52 members
Azerbaijan6.790%
Afghanistan34.410%Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Americas
18.177%
the middle country, of 25 measured · 48 members
Canada7.489%
Haiti38.241%Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Africa
33.929%
the middle country, of 51 measured · 55 members
Seychelles10.836%Somalia43.077%Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Northern Europe
6.661%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Iceland4.986%
Lithuania8.822%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Europe
7.144%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Belgium6.272%
France8.967%Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Eastern Europe
8.175%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Czechia5.102%
Bulgaria10.972%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Southern Europe
10.336%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 17 members
Slovenia4.865%Bosnia and Herzegovina13.766%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Western Asia
11.613%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 19 members
Azerbaijan6.790%
Yemen29.785%Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Eastern Asia
11.684%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
South Korea8.350%
China15.243%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- South-eastern Asia
16.366%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Brunei9.715%
Timor-Leste27.734%Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- South America
18.437%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 12 members
Argentina11.630%
Colombia23.082%Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Caribbean
19.383%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 24 members
Bahamas16.804%Haiti38.241%Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Central America
19.599%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica17.532%
Guatemala26.935%Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Northern Africa
22.020%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Tunisia19.724%
Sudan35.279%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Southern Asia
28.982%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Sri Lanka17.542%Afghanistan34.410%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Southern Africa
32.418%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Botswana29.325%
Eswatini35.054%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Eastern Africa
32.897%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members
Seychelles10.836%Somalia43.077%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Middle Africa
35.812%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
São Tomé and Príncipe23.648%
Angola39.875%Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Western Africa
36.010%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Cabo Verde26.806%Burkina Faso40.182%Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia8.585%
New Zealand8.850%Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Central Asia
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan.
Kazakhstan8.348%
Tajikistan13.904%Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Fiji14.198%Papua New Guinea26.510%Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
4 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau.
Marshall Islands14.306%
Palau20.097%Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada7.489%
United States10.695%Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.
Tonga10.988%
Tuvalu15.817%Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
169 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 17.048%; a quarter are above 29.903%, and a quarter below 9.715%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 170 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. UNDP Human Development Report Office ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. It is NOT a measure of income inequality — the Gini index is — and the two disagree often, because a country can distribute money unevenly and schooling evenly. No two countries tie: the 2023 edition holds 169 distinct values for 169 countries.
Showing 25 of 170 countries
Values for 2023. The change column compares 2023 with 2022 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052010–2023 · 14 reference years
Over time
Each point is one reference year from 2010. Best read next to the Inequality-adjusted HDI, which is the other half of the same idea: this measures how much inequality there is, that one measures what development survives it.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 112 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 169 | 17.048% | 9.715% – 29.903% | 16.287% |
| 2022 | 169 | 17.205% | 10.189% – 30.076% | 16.217% |
| 2021 | 169 | 17.347% | 10.339% – 30.253% | 16.349% |
| 2020 | 167 | 17.552% | 10.373% – 30.487% | 16.535% |
| 2019 | 166 | 17.878% | 10.394% – 30.989% | 16.938% |
| 2018 | 160 | 18.970% | 10.749% – 31.596% | 16.965% |
| 2017 | 159 | 19.361% | 10.788% – 31.789% | 17.097% |
| 2016 | 157 | 18.807% | 11.391% – 32.237% | 17.134% |
| 2015 | 154 | 19.833% | 11.749% – 32.487% | 17.562% |
| 2014 | 150 | 19.174% | 11.465% – 32.627% | 17.630% |
| 2013 | 145 | 20.111% | 11.513% – 33.665% | 17.824% |
| 2012 | 140 | 20.619% | 11.341% – 34.012% | 18.066% |
| 2011 | 130 | 19.993% | 11.065% – 33.756% | 18.476% |
| 2010 | 115 | 18.647% | 10.949% – 31.285% | 18.575% |
062022 → 2023
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after
Central African Republic48.008% → 38.542% · 1st → 11th−9.466- Somalia45.551% → 43.077% · 2nd → 1st−2.474
Spain12.497% → 10.528% · 111th → 121st−1.969
Cyprus9.117% → 7.734% · 134th → 148th−1.383
Greece10.189% → 8.928% · 127th → 131st−1.261
Worsened most
before → after
Palestine16.756% → 19.718% · 89th → 76th+2.962
Türkiye15.814% → 16.471% · 97th → 90th+0.657
North Macedonia10.700% → 11.050% · 124th → 115th+0.349
Israel10.797% → 10.955% · 121st → 118th+0.158
Poland9.338% → 9.495% · 132nd → 129th+0.157
169 countries were measured in both 2022 and 2023.
07Across every edition
Coefficient of human inequality in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
51.891%
Coefficient of Human Inequality (%)
Lowest reading on record
4.819%
Coefficient of Human Inequality (%)
Biggest improvement between editions
−9.466
48.008% → 38.542%
Biggest decline between editions
+5.480
23.656% → 29.136%
Most improved since first measured
−11.168
43.706% → 32.539%
At the top most often
10 of 14
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About coefficient of human inequality
The Coefficient of Human Inequality is the plain average of the inequality in a country’s health, education and income — how unevenly the three building blocks of human development are actually spread, on a 0–100 scale where 0 is perfect equality.
What the number is: Coefficient of Human Inequality (%).
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Development & Human Capital and Poverty & Inequality, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Development & Human CapitalPoverty & InequalityWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where coefficient of human inequality is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Stillbirth RateUN IGME · 168 countries in commonρ 0.90
- Informal Employment RateILO · 92 countries in commonρ 0.90
- Under-Five Mortality RateKeyUN IGME · 168 countries in commonρ 0.89
Moves against
Where coefficient of human inequality is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 169 countries in commonρ −0.96
- Adult Literacy RateUIS · 108 countries in commonρ −0.90
- Human Development IndexKeyUNDP Human Development Report Office · 169 countries in commonρ −0.90
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 375 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The countries at either end
11Questions
Coefficient of human inequality: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest coefficient of human inequality?
Slovenia, at 4.865%, among the 169 countries compared in 2023.
Which country has the highest coefficient of human inequality?
Somalia, at 43.077%, among the 169 countries compared in 2023.
How many countries does the Coefficient of Human Inequality cover?
169 in 2023, and 170 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 115 to 169 between editions.
What is the world average coefficient of human inequality?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 169 compared in 2023, the figure was 17.048%.
Is this UNDP Human Development Report Office’s own ranking?
No. UNDP Human Development Report Office publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Coefficient of Human Inequality published?
This site holds 14 reference years, 2010–2023, all recalculated in UNDP Human Development Report Office’s 2025 report on one method — not 14 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UNDP Human Development Report Office, under CC BY 3.0 IGO. From the 2025 Human Development Report, which recalculates every year at once on one current method. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Coefficient of Human Inequality — UNDP Human Development Report Office
From the 2025 Human Development Report, which recalculates every year at once on one current method.
Newest edition
Report year 2023Data year 2023
Cite the source as: UNDP. Human Development Report. New York: United Nations Development Programme.
Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO, checked 2026-09-05.
How this page reads the numbers
- UNDP Human Development Report Office ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Slovenia — Z.K. derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY 3.0
- Iceland — Hansueli Krapf, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Czechia — john mcsporran from Trossachs, Scotland, CC BY 2.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Coefficient of human inequality by country: Coefficient of Human Inequality, data from UNDP Human Development Report Office. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/human-inequality