List of subnational entities with the highest and lowest Human Development Index

The following list shows the subnational entities and regions with the highest and lowest Human Development Index (HDI) in the world and on different continents. The HDI is a summary measure of human development that considers three dimensions: health, education, and standard of living. It is calculated by taking the geometric mean of three normalized indicators: life expectancy at birth, mean and expected years of schooling, and gross national income per capita. The HDI ranges from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating higher human development. The HDI itself was created by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq in 1990, and was further used by the UNDP to measure the country's development in its annual Human Development Reports.The index was initially calculated at the country level. The Global Data Lab at Radboud University in the Netherlands launched a subnational HDI (SHDI) in 2018, which covers around 1,800 regions in over 160 countries to better reflect the differences within countries.[1][2] Global Data Lab also provides the Subnational Human the Subnational Gender Development Index (SGDI) and data on income, years of education and life expectancy on the subnational level. The SHDI and SGDI are based on the UNDP's official HDI and GDI, but they use subnational data in addition to national data.

World map of subnational HDI (2018)

Regions with the highest and lowest HDI edit

25 highest HDIs
The top 25 regions with the highest HDI in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountyHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1Zurich   Switzerland0.989
2Oslo and Akershus  Norway0.980
Australian Capital Territory  Australia
4Greater London  United Kingdom0.973
5Hamburg  Germany0.972
Stockholm County  Sweden
7Western Australia  Australia0.967
Capital Region of Denmark  Denmark
9Lake Geneva region   Switzerland0.966
10Utrecht province  Netherlands0.964
11North Holland  Netherlands0.962
12Ticino   Switzerland0.961
13Prague  Czech Republic0.960
Helsinki-Uusimaa Region  Finland
15Berlin  Germany0.959
16Wellington Region  New Zealand0.958
Western Norway  Norway
18Northwestern Switzerland   Switzerland0.957
19Baden-Württemberg  Germany0.956
Trøndelag  Norway0.956
21Alberta  Canada0.955
22Bremen  Germany0.954
23Brussels  Belgium0.953
Central Slovenia  Slovenia
25New South Wales  Australia0.952
Capital Area (Gyeonggi, Seoul, Incheon)  South Korea
Central Switzerland   Switzerland

25 lowest HDIs
The top 25 regions with the lowest HDi in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Low human development
1Middle Juba  Somalia0.232
2Zone 2 (Borkou, Ennedi, Tibesti,
Kanem, Barh El Gazel, Lac)
 Chad0.268
3Galguduud  Somalia0.279
4Zone 5 (Chari-Baguirmi, Dababa,
Baguirmi, Hadjer-Lamis)
 Chad0.284
5Sahel Region  Burkina Faso0.286
6Hiran  Somalia0.291
Zone 4 (Ouaddai, Assoungha,
Sila, Wadi Fira)
 Chad
8Bay  Somalia0.294
9Bakool  Somalia0.295
10Lower Juba  Somalia0.300
11Warrap  South Sudan0.311
12Middle Shabelle  Somalia0.315
13Lower Shabelle  Somalia0.323
Togdheer  Somalia
15Gedo  Somalia0.330
16Timbuktu Region  Mali0.331
17Zone 3 (Guera, Batha, Salamat)  Chad0.334
18Kebbi State  Nigeria0.335
Jonglei State  South Sudan
20Sokoto State  Nigeria0.336
21Sool  Somalia0.338
22Southeastern Region (Basse-Kotto,
Mbomou, Haut-Mbomou)
 Central African Republic0.340
23Kuntaur  Gambia0.342
24Unity State  South Sudan0.344
25Lakes State  South Sudan0.348

Africa edit

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1South (Grand Port, Savanne,
Plaines Wilhems, Rivière Noire)
 Mauritius0.812
High human development
2Port Said Governorate  Egypt0.797
3North (Port Louis, Pamplemousses,
Rivière du Rempart, Flacq, Moka)
 Mauritius0.796
4Suez Governorate  Egypt0.783
5Alexandria Governorate  Egypt0.780
6Cairo Governorate  Egypt0.779
7Grand Tunis  Tunisia0.775
8South-East District  Botswana0.770
9North Center (Algiers, Blida,
Boumerdès, Tipaza, Bouïra, Médéa,
Tizi Ouzou, Béjaïa, Chlef, Aïn Defla)
 Algeria0.767
10Damietta Governorate  Egypt0.757

Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Low human development
1Middle Juba  Somalia0.232
2Zone 2 (Borkou, Ennedi, Tibesti,
Kanem, Barh El Gazel, Lac)
 Chad0.268
3Galguduud  Somalia0.279
4Zone 5 (Chari-Baguirmi, Dababa,
Baguirmi, Hadjer-Lamis)
 Chad0.284
5Sahel Region  Burkina Faso0.286
6Hiran  Somalia0.291
Zone 4 (Ouaddai, Assoungha,
Sila, Wadi Fira)
 Chad
8Bay  Somalia0.294
9Bakool  Somalia0.295
10Lower Juba  Somalia0.300

Asia edit

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in Asia in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1Capital Area (Gyeonggi, Seoul, Incheon)  South Korea0.952
2Southern Kantō (Saitama, Chiba,
Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano)
 Japan0.951
3Gyeongnam (South Gyeongsang,
Busan, Ulsan)
 South Korea0.936
4Kansai (Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo,
Nara, Wakayama)
 Japan0.928
5Tōkai (Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie)  Japan0.924
6Chūgoku (Tottori, Shimane, Okayama,
Hiroshima, Yamaguchi)
 Japan0.921
7Northern Kantō (Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma)  Japan0.913
8Chungcheong (North Chungcheong,
South Chungcheong, Daejeon, Sejong)
 South Korea0.912
10Beijing  China0.907
Jeju  South Korea0.907

Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in Asia in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Low human development
1Hajjah, Sa'dah, 'Amran  Yemen0.395
2Al Hudaydah, Al Mahwit  Yemen0.406
3South (Uruzgan, Helmand, Zabul, Nimroz,
Kandahar)
 Afghanistan0.407
4Al Bayda, Dhamar, Raymah  Yemen0.408
5North East (Baghlan, Takhar, Badakhshan,
Kunduz)
 Afghanistan0.444
6West (Ghor, Herat, Badghis, Farah)  Afghanistan0.447
7Ibb  Yemen0.450
8Former Federally Administered Tribal Areas  Pakistan0.456
9East (Nangarhar, Kunar, Laghman, Nuristan)  Afghanistan0.459
10Balochistan  Pakistan0.463

Europe edit

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in Europe in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountyHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1Zürich Canton   Switzerland0.989
2Oslo and Akershus  Norway0.980
3Greater London  United Kingdom0.973
4Hamburg  Germany0.972
Stockholm County  Sweden
6Capital Region of Denmark  Denmark0.967
7Lake Geneva region   Switzerland0.966
8Utrecht province  Netherlands0.964
9North Holland  Netherlands0.962
10Ticino   Switzerland0.961

Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in Europe in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
High human development
1Southeastern Statistical Region  Macedonia0.722
2Severozapaden Planning Region  Bulgaria0.739
3Center Moldova  Republic of Moldova0.742
Northeastern Statistical Region  Macedonia
5Gjilan District  Kosovo0.743
6North Moldova  Republic of Moldova0.746
7Eastern Statistical Region  Macedonia0.747
8Gjakova District  Kosovo0.748
9Prizren district  Kosovo0.751
10Polog Statistical Region  Macedonia0.753
Yugoiztochen Planning Region  Bulgaria0.753

North America edit

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in North America in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1Alberta  Canada0.955
2Massachusetts  United States0.949
3Connecticut  United States0.948
4Minnesota  United States0.947
5British Columbia  Canada0.944
6Ontario  Canada0.943
New Hampshire  United States
New Jersey  United States
9Colorado  United States0.942
10District of Columbia  United States0.940
Hawaii  United States
North Dakota  United States
Washington  United States

Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in North America in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Low human development
1Centre  Haiti0.485
2Artibonite  Haiti0.501
3Grand'Anse, Nippes  Haiti0.505
4Sud-Est  Haiti0.513
5Sud  Haiti0.520
6Nord-Est  Haiti0.524
7Nord-Ouest  Haiti0.527
8Lempira Department  Honduras0.544
Medium human development
9Nord  Haiti0.550
Gracias a Dios Department  Honduras0.550

South America edit

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in South America in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1Santiago Metropolitan Region  Chile0.886
2Tarapacá Region  Chile0.882
3Antofagasta Region  Chile0.876
4Valparaíso Region  Chile0.871
5Magallanes Region  Chile0.867
6Atacama Region  Chile0.859
7Greater Buenos Aires  Argentina0.844
8Patagonia Region  Argentina0.843
9Cuyo  Argentina0.841
Pampas region  Argentina

Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in South America in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Medium human development
1Brokopondo and Sipaliwini  Suriname0.597
2Potosí Department  Bolivia0.606
3Apure  Venezuela0.619
4Vaupés Department  Colombia0.625
5Potaro-Siparuni  Guyana0.627
6Barima-Waini  Guyana0.635
7Barinas  Venezuela0.637
8Portuguesa  Venezuela0.638
9Guárico  Venezuela0.653
10La Guajira Department  Colombia0.656

Oceania edit

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in Oceania in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1Australian Capital Territory  Australia0.980
2Western Australia  Australia0.967
3Wellington Region  New Zealand0.958
4New South Wales  Australia0.952
5Auckland Region  New Zealand0.951
6Victoria  Australia0.948
7Queensland  Australia0.944
8Northern Territory  Australia0.940
9South Australia  Australia0.939
Taranaki  New Zealand

Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in Oceania in 2021 were:[3]

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Low human development
1Hela Province  Papua New Guinea0.463
2Enga Province  Papua New Guinea0.490
3Southern Highlands Province  Papua New Guinea0.490
4Gulf Province  Papua New Guinea0.524
5Eastern Highlands Province  Papua New Guinea0.525
6Sandaun Province  Papua New Guinea0.532
7Penama Province  Vanuatu0.545
8Torba Province  Vanuatu0.547
Medium human development
9East Sepik Province  Papua New Guinea0.552
Jiwaka Province  Papua New Guinea0.554

References edit

  1. ^ Nations, United (2018-05-31). The Subnational Human Development Index: Moving beyond country-level averages (Report). United Nations.
  2. ^ Smits, Jeroen; Permanyer, Iñaki (2019-03-12). "The Subnational Human Development Database". Scientific Data. 6 (1): 190038. doi:10.1038/sdata.2019.38. hdl:2066/202965. ISSN 2052-4463.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Subnational HDI (v7.0)". Global Data Lab. Retrieved 2024-02-14.

External links edit