Human Development Index (HDI)
The latest Human Development Index (HDI) for 2025 shows limited global progress, with Iceland ranked first (HDI 0.972) and India ranked 130th out of 193 countries (HDI 0.685), reflecting a slow post-pandemic recovery in life expectancy and growing disparity between high and low HDI nations.
Global HDI Highlights
- The global HDI registered its smallest increase since 1990 (excluding the COVID-19 crisis years), indicating that past positive trends have not resumed at pre-pandemic rates.
- Iceland (0.972), Switzerland (0.970), and Norway (0.970) top the rankings, while South Sudan remains at the bottom (0.388).
- High-HDI countries continue to progress, but low-HDI countries face stagnation and growing inequality.
- The 2025 report emphasizes the rapid spread of artificial intelligence and its impacts on human development prospects, especially job creation and transformation.
India’s HDI in 2025
- India ranks 130th out of 193 countries, up from 133rd in the previous report.
- India’s HDI value increased from 0.676 (2022) to 0.685 (2023), placing it in the medium human development category and moving closer to the high human development threshold (HDI ≥ 0.700).
- India's life expectancy has reached its highest level since the inception of the HDI, driven by a strong recovery from the pandemic.
- The report highlights the transformative impact of AI for countries like India, stressing the need for inclusive AI policies to ensure fair development outcomes.
Top 10 Countries by HDI (2025)
| Rank |
Country |
HDI |
| 1 |
Iceland |
0.972 |
| 2 |
Switzerland |
0.970 |
| 2 |
Norway |
0.970 |
| 4 |
Denmark |
0.962 |
| 5 |
Germany |
0.959 |
| 5 |
Sweden |
0.959 |
| 7 |
Australia |
0.958 |
| 8 |
Netherlands |
0.955 |
| 8 |
Hong Kong |
0.955 |
| 10 |
Belgium |
0.951 |
Key Trends and Challenges
AI adoption is increasing rapidly, impacting both job opportunities and job security worldwide.
Inequality remains a major concern, with high-HDI countries continuing to progress while many low-HDI countries face various development challenges.
These rankings and trends are taken from the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report released in May 2025, encompassing data up to 2023 for HDI calculations.
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