Countries by Human Development Index

Complete ranking of 193 countries • index (0-1) • Updated 2026

Iceland leads all 193 countries in HDI with a value of 0.97, while South Sudan ranks last at 0.39. This represents a 3-fold difference between the highest and lowest values.

What HDI Measures

HDI is a comparative indicator tracked across countries by the Our World in Data. It provides a quantitative basis for cross-national comparison, enabling researchers and policymakers to benchmark national performance on this dimension against global peers.

Why This Ranking Matters

Examining HDI across all countries reveals patterns that might not be obvious at the national level. Regional clusters, outlier nations, and historical trajectories all become clearer when the full global picture is assembled in a single ranking.

Global Range

Values range from 0.39 (South Sudan) to 0.97 (Iceland) — a 3-fold difference across 193 countries.

Regional Patterns

European countries dominate this ranking, holding 12 of the top 20 positions. This strong regional concentration suggests shared economic, geographic, or policy factors that drive higher values across the continent.

Values are broadly distributed across countries, with the middle 50% ranging from 0.62 to 0.86. The overall spread from 0.39 to 0.97 reflects significant global variation.

Notable Outliers

The top of the ranking is competitive: Iceland and Switzerland are separated by only 0%, indicating that the leading positions could shift with updated data. The bottom five countries are all from Africa, pointing to regional challenges that affect hdi across the continent.

Continental Leaders

Europe

Iceland

0.97

Oceania

Australia

0.96

Asia

Hong Kong

0.95

North America

Canada

0.94

South America

Chile

0.88

Africa

Seychelles

0.85

Highest Ranked

The top five countries for HDI are Iceland (0.97), Switzerland (0.97), Norway (0.97), Denmark (0.96), and Germany (0.96). Together, these nations represent the global leaders in this metric.

Lowest Ranked

At the other end of the spectrum, South Sudan (0.39), Somalia (0.40), Central African Republic (0.41), Chad (0.42), and Niger (0.42) have the lowest values globally.

Data Source & Methodology

Rankings are based on the latest available data from Our World in Data, covering 193 of 249 countries and territories. Countries without data for this metric are excluded from the ranking. All values represent the most recently reported figures.

Top 10 Countries

Full Rankings

Human Development Index ranking for 193 countries
				Percentile
1st	Iceland	0.97	Europe	100%
2nd	Switzerland	0.97	Europe	99%
3rd	Norway	0.97	Europe	99%
4th	Denmark	0.96	Europe	98%
5th	Germany	0.96	Europe	98%
6th	Sweden	0.96	Europe	97%
7th	Australia	0.96	Oceania	97%
8th	Hong Kong	0.95	Asia	96%
9th	Netherlands	0.95	Europe	96%
10th	Belgium	0.95	Europe	95%
11th	Ireland	0.95	Europe	95%
12th	Finland	0.95	Europe	94%
13th	United Kingdom	0.95	Europe	94%
14th	Singapore	0.95	Asia	93%
15th	United Arab Emirates	0.94	Asia	93%
16th	Canada	0.94	North America	92%
17th	Liechtenstein	0.94	Europe	92%
18th	New Zealand	0.94	Oceania	91%
19th	United States	0.94	North America	91%
20th	South Korea	0.94	Asia	90%
21st	Slovenia	0.93	Europe	90%
22nd	Austria	0.93	Europe	89%
23rd	Japan	0.93	Asia	89%
24th	Malta	0.92	Europe	88%
25th	Luxembourg	0.92	Europe	88%
26th	France	0.92	Europe	87%
27th	Israel	0.92	Asia	87%
28th	Spain	0.92	Europe	86%
29th	Czechia	0.92	Europe	85%
30th	Italy	0.92	Europe	85%
31st	San Marino	0.92	Europe	84%
32nd	Andorra	0.91	Europe	84%
33rd	Cyprus	0.91	Europe	83%
34th	Greece	0.91	Europe	83%
35th	Poland	0.91	Europe	82%
36th	Estonia	0.91	Europe	82%
37th	Saudi Arabia	0.90	Asia	81%
38th	Bahrain	0.90	Asia	81%
39th	Lithuania	0.90	Europe	80%
40th	Portugal	0.89	Europe	80%
41st	Croatia	0.89	Europe	79%
42nd	Latvia	0.89	Europe	79%
43rd	Qatar	0.89	Asia	78%
44th	Slovakia	0.88	Europe	78%
45th	Chile	0.88	South America	77%
46th	Hungary	0.87	Europe	77%
47th	Argentina	0.86	South America	76%
48th	Montenegro	0.86	Europe	76%
49th	Uruguay	0.86	South America	75%
50th	Oman	0.86	Asia	75%
51st	Turkey	0.85	Europe	74%
52nd	Kuwait	0.85	Asia	74%
53rd	Antigua and Barbuda	0.85	North America	73%
54th	Seychelles	0.85	Africa	73%
55th	Bulgaria	0.84	Europe	72%
56th	Romania	0.84	Europe	72%
57th	Georgia	0.84	Europe	71%
58th	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0.84	North America	70%
59th	Panama	0.84	North America	70%
60th	Brunei	0.84	Asia	69%
61st	Kazakhstan	0.84	Asia	69%
62nd	Costa Rica	0.83	North America	68%
63rd	Serbia	0.83	Europe	68%
64th	Russia	0.83	Europe	67%
65th	Belarus	0.82	Europe	67%
66th	Bahamas	0.82	North America	66%
67th	Malaysia	0.82	Asia	66%
68th	North Macedonia	0.81	Europe	65%
69th	Armenia	0.81	Europe	65%
70th	Barbados	0.81	North America	64%
71st	Albania	0.81	Europe	64%
72nd	Trinidad and Tobago	0.81	North America	63%
73rd	Mauritius	0.81	Africa	63%
74th	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.80	Europe	62%
75th	Iran	0.80	Asia	62%
76th	Thailand	0.80	Asia	61%
77th	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0.80	North America	61%
78th	China	0.80	Asia	60%
79th	Peru	0.79	South America	60%
80th	Grenada	0.79	North America	59%
81st	Azerbaijan	0.79	Europe	59%
82nd	Mexico	0.79	North America	58%
83rd	Colombia	0.79	North America	58%
84th	Brazil	0.79	South America	57%
85th	Palau	0.79	Oceania	56%
86th	Moldova	0.79	Europe	56%
87th	Ukraine	0.78	Europe	55%
88th	Ecuador	0.78	South America	55%
89th	Dominican Republic	0.78	North America	54%
90th	Guyana	0.78	North America	54%
91st	Sri Lanka	0.78	Asia	53%
92nd	Tonga	0.77	Oceania	53%
93rd	Maldives	0.77	Asia	52%
94th	Vietnam	0.77	Asia	52%
95th	Turkmenistan	0.76	Asia	51%
96th	Algeria	0.76	Africa	51%
97th	Cuba	0.76	North America	50%
98th	Dominica	0.76	North America	50%
99th	Paraguay	0.76	South America	49%
100th	Egypt	0.75	Africa	49%
101st	Jordan	0.75	Asia	48%
102nd	Lebanon	0.75	Asia	48%
103rd	Saint Lucia	0.75	North America	47%
104th	Mongolia	0.75	Asia	47%
105th	Tunisia	0.75	Africa	46%
106th	South Africa	0.74	Africa	46%
107th	Uzbekistan	0.74	Asia	45%
108th	Bolivia	0.73	South America	45%
109th	Gabon	0.73	Africa	44%
110th	Marshall Islands	0.73	Oceania	44%
111st	Botswana	0.73	Africa	43%
112nd	Fiji	0.73	Oceania	42%
113rd	Indonesia	0.73	Asia	42%
114th	Suriname	0.72	North America	41%
115th	Belize	0.72	North America	41%
116th	Libya	0.72	Africa	40%
117th	Jamaica	0.72	North America	40%
118th	Kyrgyzstan	0.72	Asia	39%
119th	Philippines	0.72	Asia	39%
120th	Morocco	0.71	Africa	38%
121st	Venezuela	0.71	North America	38%
122nd	Samoa	0.71	Oceania	37%
123rd	Nicaragua	0.71	North America	37%
124th	Nauru	0.70	Oceania	36%
125th	Bhutan	0.70	Asia	36%
126th	Iraq	0.69	Asia	35%
127th	Eswatini	0.69	Africa	35%
128th	Tajikistan	0.69	Asia	34%
129th	Tuvalu	0.69	Oceania	34%
130th	Bangladesh	0.69	Asia	33%
131st	India	0.69	Asia	33%
132nd	El Salvador	0.68	North America	32%
133rd	Equatorial Guinea	0.67	Africa	32%
134th	Palestine	0.67	Asia	31%
135th	Cabo Verde	0.67	Africa	31%
136th	Namibia	0.67	Africa	30%
137th	Guatemala	0.66	North America	30%
138th	Congo	0.65	Africa	29%
139th	Honduras	0.65	North America	28%
140th	Kiribati	0.64	Oceania	28%
141st	Sao Tome and Principe	0.64	Africa	27%
142nd	Timor-Leste	0.63	Asia	27%
143rd	Ghana	0.63	Africa	26%
144th	Kenya	0.63	Africa	26%
145th	Nepal	0.62	Asia	25%
146th	Vanuatu	0.62	Oceania	25%
147th	Laos	0.62	Asia	24%
148th	Angola	0.62	Africa	24%
149th	Micronesia	0.61	Oceania	23%
150th	Myanmar	0.61	Asia	23%
151st	Cambodia	0.61	Asia	22%
152nd	Comoros	0.60	Africa	22%
153rd	Zimbabwe	0.60	Africa	21%
154th	Zambia	0.59	Africa	21%
155th	Cameroon	0.59	Africa	20%
156th	Solomon Islands	0.58	Oceania	20%
157th	Côte d'Ivoire	0.58	Africa	19%
158th	Uganda	0.58	Africa	19%
159th	Rwanda	0.58	Africa	18%
160th	Papua New Guinea	0.58	Oceania	18%
161st	Togo	0.57	Africa	17%
162nd	Syria	0.56	Asia	17%
163rd	Mauritania	0.56	Africa	16%
164th	Nigeria	0.56	Africa	16%
165th	Tanzania	0.56	Africa	15%
166th	Haiti	0.55	North America	15%
167th	Lesotho	0.55	Africa	14%
168th	Pakistan	0.54	Asia	13%
169th	Senegal	0.53	Africa	13%
170th	Gambia	0.52	Africa	12%
171st	Congo, Democratic Republic	0.52	Africa	12%
172nd	Malawi	0.52	Africa	11%
173rd	Benin	0.52	Africa	11%
174th	Guinea-Bissau	0.51	Africa	10%
175th	Djibouti	0.51	Africa	10%
176th	Sudan	0.51	Africa	9%
177th	Liberia	0.51	Africa	9%
178th	Eritrea	0.50	Africa	8%
179th	Guinea	0.50	Africa	8%
180th	Ethiopia	0.50	Africa	7%
181st	Afghanistan	0.50	Asia	7%
182nd	Mozambique	0.49	Africa	6%
183rd	Madagascar	0.49	Africa	6%
184th	Yemen	0.47	Asia	5%
185th	Sierra Leone	0.47	Africa	5%
186th	Burkina Faso	0.46	Africa	4%
187th	Burundi	0.44	Africa	4%
188th	Mali	0.42	Africa	3%
189th	Niger	0.42	Africa	3%
190th	Chad	0.42	Africa	2%
191st	Central African Republic	0.41	Africa	2%
192nd	Somalia	0.40	Africa	1%
193rd	South Sudan	0.39	Africa	1%