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

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.

Regions with the highest and lowest HDI

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

RankRegionCountyHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1Zurich0.989
2Oslo and Akershus0.980
Australian Capital Territory
4Greater London0.973
5Hamburg0.972
Stockholm County
7Western Australia0.967
Capital Region of Denmark
9Lake Geneva region0.966
10Utrecht province0.964
11North Holland0.962
12Ticino0.961
13Prague0.960
Helsinki-Uusimaa Region
15Berlin0.959
16Wellington Region0.958
Western Norway
18Northwestern Switzerland0.957
19Baden-Württemberg0.956
Trøndelag0.956
21Alberta0.955
22Bremen0.954
23Brussels0.953
Central Slovenia
25New South Wales0.952
Capital Area (Gyeonggi, Seoul, Incheon)
Central Switzerland

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

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Low human development
1Middle Juba0.232
2Zone 2 (Borkou, Ennedi, Tibesti,
Kanem, Barh El Gazel, Lac)		0.268
3Galguduud0.279
4Zone 5 (Chari-Baguirmi, Dababa,
Baguirmi, Hadjer-Lamis)		0.284
5Sahel Region0.286
6Hiran0.291
Zone 4 (Ouaddai, Assoungha,
Sila, Wadi Fira)
8Bay0.294
9Bakool0.295
10Lower Juba0.300
11Warrap0.311
12Middle Shabelle0.315
13Lower Shabelle0.323
Togdheer
15Gedo0.330
16Timbuktu Region0.331
17Zone 3 (Guera, Batha, Salamat)0.334
18Kebbi State0.335
Jonglei State
20Sokoto State0.336
21Sool0.338
22Southeastern Region (Basse-Kotto,
Mbomou, Haut-Mbomou)		0.340
23Kuntaur0.342
24Unity State0.344
25Lakes State0.348

Africa

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in 2021 were:

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1South (Grand Port, Savanne,
Plaines Wilhems, Rivière Noire)		0.812
High human development
2Grand Tunis (Ariana, Tunis, Ben Arous, Manouba)0.798
3Port Said Governorate0.797
4North (Port Louis, Pamplemousses,
Rivière du Rempart, Flacq, Moka)		0.796
5Suez Governorate0.783
6Alexandria Governorate0.780
7Cairo Governorate0.779
8South-East District0.770
9North Center (Algiers, Blida,
Boumerdès, Tipaza, Bouïra, Médéa,
Tizi Ouzou, Béjaïa, Chlef, Aïn Defla)		0.767
10Damietta Governorate0.757
Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in 2021 were:

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Low human development
1Middle Juba0.232
2Zone 2 (Borkou, Ennedi, Tibesti,
Kanem, Barh El Gazel, Lac)		0.268
3Galguduud0.279
4Zone 5 (Chari-Baguirmi, Dababa,
Baguirmi, Hadjer-Lamis)		0.284
5Sahel Region0.286
6Hiran0.291
Zone 4 (Ouaddai, Assoungha,
Sila, Wadi Fira)
8Bay0.294
9Bakool0.295
10Lower Juba0.300

Asia

Top 10 highest

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

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1Capital Area (Gyeonggi, Seoul, Incheon)0.952
2Southern Kantō (Saitama, Chiba,
Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano)		0.951
3Gyeongnam (South Gyeongsang,
Busan, Ulsan)		0.936
4Kansai (Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo,
Nara, Wakayama)		0.928
5Tōkai (Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie)0.924
6Chūgoku (Tottori, Shimane, Okayama,
Hiroshima, Yamaguchi)		0.921
7Northern Kantō (Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma)0.913
8Chungcheong (North Chungcheong,
South Chungcheong, Daejeon, Sejong)		0.912
9Hokuriku (Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui)0.908
10Jeju0.907
Top 10 lowest

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

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Low human development
1Hajjah, Sa'dah, 'Amran0.395
2Al Hudaydah, Al Mahwit0.406
3South (Uruzgan, Helmand, Zabul, Nimroz,
Kandahar)		0.407
4Al Bayda, Dhamar, Raymah0.408
5North East (Baghlan, Takhar, Badakhshan,
Kunduz)		0.444
6West (Ghor, Herat, Badghis, Farah)0.447
7Ibb0.450
8Former Federally Administered Tribal Areas0.456
9East (Nangarhar, Kunar, Laghman, Nuristan)0.459
10Balochistan0.463

Europe

Top 10 highest

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

RankRegionCountyHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1Zürich Canton0.989
2Oslo and Akershus0.980
3Greater London0.973
4Hamburg0.972
Stockholm County
6Capital Region of Denmark0.967
7Lake Geneva region0.966
8Utrecht province0.964
9North Holland0.962
10Ticino0.961
Top 10 lowest

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

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
High human development
1Southeastern Statistical Region0.722
2Severozapaden Planning Region0.739
3Center Moldova0.742
Northeastern Statistical Region
5Gjilan District0.743
6North Moldova0.746
7Eastern Statistical Region0.747
8Gjakova District0.748
9Prizren district0.751
10Polog Statistical Region0.753
Yugoiztochen Planning Region0.753

North America

Top 10 highest

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

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1Alberta0.955
2Massachusetts0.949
3Connecticut0.948
4Minnesota0.947
5British Columbia0.944
6Ontario0.943
New Hampshire
New Jersey
9Colorado0.942
10District of Columbia0.940
Hawaii
North Dakota
Washington
Top 10 lowest

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

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Low human development
1Centre0.485
2Artibonite0.501
3Grand'Anse, Nippes0.505
4Sud-Est0.513
5Sud0.520
6Nord-Est0.524
7Nord-Ouest0.527
8Lempira Department0.544
Medium human development
9Nord0.550
Gracias a Dios Department0.550

South America

Top 10 highest

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

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1Santiago Metropolitan Region0.886
2Tarapacá Region0.882
3Antofagasta Region0.876
4Valparaíso Region0.871
5Magallanes Region0.867
6Atacama Region0.859
7Greater Buenos Aires0.844
8Patagonia Region0.843
9Cuyo0.841
Pampas region
Top 10 lowest

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

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Medium human development
1Brokopondo and Sipaliwini0.597
2Potosí Department0.606
3Apure0.619
4Vaupés Department0.625
5Potaro-Siparuni0.627
6Barima-Waini0.635
7Barinas0.637
8Portuguesa0.638
9Guárico0.653
10La Guajira Department0.656

Oceania

Top 10 highest

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

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Very high human development
1Australian Capital Territory0.980
2Western Australia0.967
3Wellington Region0.958
4New South Wales0.952
5Auckland Region0.951
6Victoria0.948
7Queensland0.944
8Northern Territory0.940
9South Australia0.939
Taranaki
Top 10 lowest

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

RankRegionCountryHDI (2021)
Low human development
1Hela Province0.463
2Enga Province0.490
3Southern Highlands Province0.490
4Gulf Province0.524
5Eastern Highlands Province0.525
6Sandaun Province0.532
7Penama Province0.545
8Torba Province0.547
Medium human development
9East Sepik Province0.552
Jiwaka Province0.554

External links

Notes and References

  1. The Subnational Human Development Index: Moving beyond country-level averages . Nations . United . 2018-05-31 . United Nations . en.
  2. Smits . Jeroen . Permanyer . Iñaki . 2019-03-12 . The Subnational Human Development Database . Scientific Data . en . 6 . 1 . 190038 . 10.1038/sdata.2019.38 . 2052-4463. 2066/202965 . free .
  3. Web site: Subnational HDI (v7.0) . 2024-02-14 . Global Data Lab.

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