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Human Development Index: Definition and Much More from Answers.com

️Wed Jul 01 2015

Wikipedia: Human Development Index

The Human Development Index (HDI) is the measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to determine and indicate whether a country is a developed, developing, or underdeveloped country and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life.^[1] The index was developed in 1990 by Indian Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen, Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, with help from Gustav Ranis of Yale University and Lord Meghnad Desai of the London School of Economics and has been used since then by the United Nations Development Programme in its annual Human Development Report. Described by Sen as a "vulgar measure", because of its limitations, it nonetheless focuses attention on wider aspects of development than the per capita income measure it supplanted, and is a pathway for researchers into the wide variety of more detailed measures contained in the Human Development Reports.

The HDI measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development:

A long and healthy life, as measured by life expectancy at birth.
Knowledge, as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weighting) and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio (with one-third weighting).
A decent standard of living, as measured by the log of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) in USD.

Each year, UN member states are listed and ranked according to these measures. Those high on the list often advertise it,^[2] as a means of attracting talented immigrants (economically, individual capital) or discouraging emigration.

An alternative measure, focusing on the amount of poverty in a country, is the Human Poverty Index.

Methodology

HDI trends between 1975 and 2004

In general to transform a raw variable, say x, into a unit-free index between 0 and 1 (which allows different indices to be added together), the following formula is used:

x-index = $\frac{x - \min\left(x\right)} {\max\left(x\right)-\min\left(x\right)}$

where $\min\left(x\right)$ and $\max\left(x\right)$ are the lowest and highest values the variable x can attain, respectively.

The Human Development Index (HDI) then represents the average of the following three general indices:

LE: Life expectancy at birth
ALR: Adult literacy rate (ages 15 and older)
CGER: Combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools
GDPpc: GDP per capita at PPP in USD

UNDP has created a technical note on the definition of the HDI (see links below).

Examples

Calculation examples of the indices.

Index	Measure	Minimum value	Maximum value	Formula
Longevity	Life expectancy at birth (LE)	25 yrs	85 yrs	$L = \frac{\mathrm{LE}-25}{60}$
Education	Literacy rate (LR)	0%	100%	$E = \frac{2\mathrm{LR} + \mathrm{CGER}}{3}$
Combined gross enrolment ratio (CGER)	0%	100%
GDP	GDP per capita (PPP)	100 USD	40,000 USD	$G = \frac{\log_{10}\mathrm{GDPpc}-2}{2\mathrm{.}60206}$

2006 report

Coloured world map indicating Human Development Index (2006)

0.950 and over 0.900–0.949 0.850–0.899 0.800–0.849 0.750–0.799 0.700–0.749

0.650–0.699 0.600–0.649 0.550–0.599 0.500–0.549 0.450–0.499 0.400–0.449

0.350–0.399 0.300–0.349 under 0.300 N/A

(colour-blind compliant map)

The report for 2006 was launched in Cape Town, South Africa, on November 9, 2006. Its focus was on "power, poverty and the global water crisis." [1] Most of the data used for the report are derived largely from 2004 or earlier, thus indicating an HDI for 2004. Not all UN member states choose to or are able to provide the necessary statistics.

The report showed a stagnation in world HDI, as the continued improvement of developed countries was offset by a general decline of the developing world. Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia showed an important decline in HDI, in comparison with last year's report. Other developing regions showed little to no improvement.

A HDI below 0.5 is considered to represent low development. 29 of the 31 countries in that category are located in Africa, with the exceptions of Haiti and Yemen. The bottom ten countries are all in Africa. The highest-scoring Sub-Saharan countries, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa, are ranked 120th and 121st, respectively (with a shared HDI of 0.653).

A HDI of 0.8 or more is considered to represent high development. This includes all developed countries, such as those in North America, Western Europe, Oceania, and Eastern Asia, as well as some developing countries in Eastern Europe, Central and South America, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and the oil-rich Arabian Peninsula.

On the following table, green arrows () represent an increase in ranking over the previous study, while red arrows () represent a decrease in ranking. They are followed by the number of spaces they moved. Blue dashes () represent a nation that did not move in the rankings since the previous study.

Top thirty countries (HDI range from 0.965 down to 0.885)

Top/bottom three countries by region

Countries not included

The following countries or territories are not ranked in the 2006 Human Development Index, for being unable or unwilling to provide the necessary data, or for not being recognized as states by the United Nations at the time of publication.

Africa

Americas

Puerto Rico

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Past top countries

The number one ranked country in each year of the index. Canada is the highest ranking country, staying at the top ten times, and is followed by Norway, which stayed at the top six times.

References

External links

Lists of countries with rankings

Geography

Area · Coastline · Highest point · Lowest point · Compactness · Coast/area ratio · Northernmost point · Southernmost point · Continent

Demographics

Population (graphical • by density) · Population growth rate · Life expectancy · Infant mortality rate · Fertility rate · Birth rate · Death rate · List of countries by sex ratio · Homicide rate · Human Development Index · Income equality · Literacy rate · HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate · Unemployment rate · Employment rate · Population living in poverty · Immigrant population · Suicide rate · Undernourishment rate · Firearm-related death rate · Gun ownership

Economy

Current account balance · Foreign exchange reserves · Imports · Number of internet users · Number of telephone lines · Exports (per capita) · Debt (External, Public) · Consumption (Electricity, Natural gas, Electricity Intensity) · Production (Natural gas production by country, Natural gas proven reserves, Oil proven reserves, Automobile production, Steel production, Aluminium production)

GDP	Nominal (per capita) · PPP (per capita • per capita per hour) Past (nominal • PPP) · Future (nominal • PPP • PPP per capita) · Growth (real • per capita) Sector composition · Demographics comparison

Politics
Society

Heads of state and government · Political rights and civil liberties · Press freedom · Privacy · Perception of corruption · Bribe paying · Property rights · Economic freedom · Globalization · Ease of doing business · Economic competitiveness · Date of formation · Legal drinking age · School leaving age · Abortion law · Homosexuality laws · Death penalty · Quality-of-life · E-readiness · Failed States index · Travel Freedom

Military

Military expenditures · Number of active troops · Possession of nuclear weapons · UN peacekeepers currently deployed · Global Peace Index

Environment

Carbon dioxide emissions (per capita) · Greenhouse gas emissions per capita · GDP per emissions · Sustainability · Happy Planet Index

Articles that include one or more maps are shown in italics.

‹ The template below (Sustainability and Energy Development) is being considered for deletion. See templates for deletion to help reach a consensus. ›

Sustainability and Energy development

Future

2000 Watt society · Hubbert peak · Peak oil · Kardashev scale

Transportation

Air car · Alternative fuel · Alternative propulsion · Battery electric vehicle · Bicycle · Bioalcohol · Biodiesel · Bioethanol · Biogas · Biomass to liquid · Bus rapid transit · Community bicycle program · Ecodriving · Electric power-assist system · Electric vehicle · Hybrid electric vehicle · Hydrogen station · Hydrogen vehicle · Low-energy vehicle · Plug-in hybrid · Production battery electric vehicle · Public transport · Trolleybus · TWIKE · utility cycling · Vegetable oil used as fuel

Energy Conversion

Electricity generation	Distributed generation · Microgeneration · Sustainable community energy system · Environmental concerns with electricity generation
Biological energy	Anaerobic digestion · Biomass · Mechanical biological treatment
Chemical energy	Blue energy · Fuel cell · Hydrogen production
Geothermal power	Deep lake water cooling · Earth cooling tubes
Hydroelectricity	Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity · Tidal power · Water turbine · Wave power
Nuclear power	Inertial fusion power plant · Fusion · Nuclear reactor · Radioisotope thermoelectric generator
Solar energy	Active solar · Barra system · Central solar heating plant · Energy tower · Ocean Thermal · Passive solar · Passive solar building design · Photovoltaics · Photovoltaic module · Solar cell · Solar combisystem · Solar hot water panel · Solar pond · Solar power satellite · Solar power tower · Solar roof · Solar shingles · Solar thermal collector · Solar thermal energy · Solar tracker · Solar updraft tower · Trombe wall
Waste-to-energy	Anaerobic digestion · Gasification · Incineration · Mechanical biological treatment · Pyrolysis
Wind power	Wind farm · Wind turbine · Laddermill
Storage	Batteries · Flywheel energy storage · Grid energy storage · Hydrogen storage · Seasonal thermal store · Thermal energy storage

Sustainability

Ecological footprint	Ecosystem services · Ecovillage · Energy conservation · Energy Demand Management · Green map · Human Development Index · Infrastructural capital · Permaculture · Renewable energy · Self-sufficiency · Simple living · Sustainable development · Sustainable living · The Natural Step · TPE · Value of Earth · World energy resources and consumption · Zones (Permaculture)
Appropriate technology	Air engine · Autonomous building · Cob (building) · Composting toilet · Cool roof · Earth sheltering · Energy-efficient landscaping · Green roof · Hypermodernity · Low energy building · Passive house · Rammed earth · Sheet composting · Solar chimney · Straw-bale construction · Superinsulation · Technological singularity · Windcatcher
Sustainable agriculture	Food security · Forest gardening · Humanure · List of companion plants · List of repellent plants · Seed ball · Vermicompost · Zero energy building
Sustainable design	Environmental design · Sustainable architecture · Sustainable landscape architecture
Sustainable econonomics	Development economics · Green economics · Green Gross Domestic Product · Hydrogen economy · Liquid nitrogen economy · Low-carbon economy · Triple bottom line
Sustainable industries	Agroforestry · Ecoforestry · Exploitation of natural resources · Green building · Green chemistry · Green computing · Industrial Ecology · Natural building · Sustainable energy · Sustainable forest management · Sustainable procurement · Sustainable transport
Sustainable waste	Living machines · Mycoremediation