List of countries in Asia and Oceania by Human Development Index explained

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing or an under-developed country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life. Countries fall into four broad categories based on their HDI: very high, high, medium, and low human development. Currently, no Oceanian country falls into the low human development category while Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen are the only Asian countries which fall into this category.

The index was developed in 1990 by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq[1] and Indian economist Amartya Sen.[2]

The table below presents the latest Human Development Index (HDI)[3] for countries in Asia and the Pacific as included in a Development report of united nations development programme released on 13 March 2024 and based on data collected in 2022.[4]

Countries with contiguous boundaries that are partially (but not entirely) located in Asia are shown here in italics, but HDI figures are given for the whole country. Macau, North Korea, and Taiwan in Asia, are not ranked as they are not included in the latest report by the United Nations Development Programme.

List of countries in Asia and Oceania by Human Development Index
RankNationHuman Development
Index (HDI)
RegionWorldHDI 2022HDI 2021Change in HDI Value (2021-2022)
Very High Human Development
14 Hong Kong[5] 0.9560.959 0.003
29 Singapore0.9490.942 0.007
312 Australia0.9460.949 0.003
416 New Zealand0.9390.936 0.003
519 United Arab Emirates0.9370.931 0.006
5190.9290.926 0.003
624 Japan0.9200.920
725 Israel0.9150.911 0.004
829 Cyprus[6] 0.9070.901 0.006
934 Bahrain0.8880.884 0.004
1040 Qatar0.8750.864 0.011
1040 Saudi Arabia0.8750.867 0.008
1145 Turkey[7] 0.8550.841 0.014
1249 Kuwait0.8490.838 0.011
13550.8230.824 0.001
1456[8] 0.8210.818 0.003
1559 Oman0.8190.810 0.009
1660 Georgia[9] 0.8140.809 0.005
1763 Malaysia0.8070.798 0.009
1866 Thailand0.8030.797 0.006
1967 Kazakhstan[10] 0.8020.801 0.001
High Human Development
2071 Palau0.7970.802 0.005
2175 China[11] 0.7880.785 0.003
2276 Armenia[12] 0.7860.774 0.012
23800.7800.776 0.004
2380 Sri Lanka0.7800.783 0.003
2587 Maldives0.7620.753 0.009
2689 Azerbaijan[13] 0.7600.738 0.022
2794 Turkmenistan0.7440.740 0.004
2896 Mongolia0.7410.730 0.011
2998 Tonga0.7390.738 0.001
3099 Jordan0.7360.736
31102 Marshall Islands0.7310.729 0.002
32104 Fiji0.7290.715 0.014
33105 Egypt[14] 0.7280.726 0.002
34106 Uzbekistan0.7270.721 0.006
351070.7260.718 0.008
36109 Lebanon0.7230.725 0.002
371110.7160.715 0.001
38112 Indonesia[15] 0.7130.707 0.006
39113 Philippines0.7100.692 0.018
40116 Samoa0.7020.708 0.006
41117 Kyrgyzstan0.7010.696 0.005
Medium Human Development
42122 Nauru0.6960.693 0.003
43125 Bhutan0.6810.677 0.004
44126 Tajikistan0.6790.677 0.002
45128 Iraq0.6730.667 0.006
46129 Bangladesh0.6700.662 0.008
47131 Tuvalu0.6530.653
48134 India0.6440.633 0.011
491350.6340.634
50137 Kiribati0.6280.627 0.001
511390.6200.615 0.005
52140 Vanuatu0.6140.614
53144 Myanmar0.6080.599 0.009
54146 Nepal0.6010.591 0.010
55148 Cambodia0.6000.596 0.004
56154 Papua New Guinea0.5680.564 0.004
571550.5660.574 0.008
58156 Solomon Islands0.5620.564 0.002
591570.5570.558 0.001
Low Human Development
60164 Pakistan0.5400.537 0.003
61182 Afghanistan0.4620.473 0.011
62186 Yemen0.4240.425 0.001

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: History of the Human Development Report . 26 March 2009 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090403071425/http://hdr.undp.org/en/humandev/reports/ . 3 April 2009 .
  2. Web site: The Human Development concept. UNDP. 29 July 2011. 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20120415134936/http://hdr.undp.org/en/humandev/. 15 April 2012. dead.
  3. Web site: Table 1: Human Development Index and its components.
  4. Web site: Human Development Report 2023. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks. 13 March 2024. 22 May 2024. Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme.
  5. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China.
  6. Cyprus is geographically a part of Western Asia (or the Middle East), though politically and culturally it is often considered as being a part of Europe.
  7. A portion of Turkey, known as East Thrace, is a part of Europe, making up about 3% of the country's land area and 14% of its population.
  8. Russia is geographically a transcontinental country, though culturally and politically it is often considered as being a part of Europe. Asian Russia consists of over 75% of the country's territory, but only 22% of its population.
  9. The municipality of Kazbegi is located in Europe, which makes up about 0.1% of Georgia's population.
  10. Two regions of Kazakhstan, namely Atyrau and West Kazakhstan, are partly located in Europe.
  11. Data for China are calculated for mainland China only, excluding Taiwan and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao.
  12. Armenia is geographically a part of Western Asia (or the Middle East), though culturally and politically it is often considered as being a part of Europe.
  13. The districts of Khachmaz, Quba, Qusar, Shabran, and Siazan are geographically in Europe, placing about 5% of Azerbaijan's population in Europe.
  14. The portion of Egypt located in Asia is the Sinai Region, comprising about 6% of the country's landmass. However, the country is politically a part of Africa.
  15. The Aru Islands and Western New Guinea are geographically in Oceania, comprising approx. 22% of Indonesia's landmass and 2% of its population. However, the country is politically a part of Asia.