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. 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.

Regions with the highest and lowest HDI
25 highest HDIs

The top 25 regions with the highest HDI in 2021 were:

25 lowest HDIs

The top 25 regions with the lowest HDi in 2021 were:

Africa
Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in 2021 were: Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in 2021 were:

Asia
Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in Asia in 2021 were: Top 10 lowest

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

Europe
Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in Europe in 2021 were: Top 10 lowest

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

North America
Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in North America in 2021 were: Top 10 lowest

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

South America
Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in South America in 2021 were: Top 10 lowest

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

Oceania
Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in Oceania in 2021 were: Top 10 lowest

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