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 2023 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2023)
Very high human development
1 Zurich   Switzerland 0.993
2 Australian Capital Territory  Australia 0.988
3 London  United Kingdom 0.982
Oslo and Akershus  Norway
5 Hamburg  Germany 0.977
Berlin  Germany
7 Stockholm County  Sweden 0.976
Lake Geneva region   Switzerland
9 Prague  Czech Republic 0.975
10 Western Norway  Norway 0.974
11 Western Australia  Australia 0.973
12 Baden-Württemberg  Germany 0.972
Trøndelag  Norway
13 Agder-Rogaland  Norway 0.970
14 Utrecht province  Netherlands 0.969
15 Wellington Region  New Zealand 0.968
Central Slovenia  Slovenia
17 Capital Area (Gyeonggi, Seoul, Incheon)  South Korea 0.967
Auckland Region  New Zealand
Helsinki-Uusimaa Region  Finland
Bavaria  Germany
Bratislava Region  Slovakia
22 Antwerp Province  Belgium 0.966
23 Ticino   Switzerland 0.965
24 North Holland  Netherlands 0.964
Northwestern Switzerland   Switzerland

25 lowest HDIs
The top 25 regions with the lowest HDI in 2023 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2023)
Low human development
1 Middle Juba  Somalia 0.230
2 Galguduud  Somalia 0.279
3 Zone 2 (Borkou, Ennedi, Tibesti,
Kanem, Barh El Gazel, Lac)
 Chad 0.284
4 Hiran  Somalia 0.285
5 Bakool  Somalia 0.296
Bay  Somalia
7 Lower Juba  Somalia 0.302
8 Zone 5 (Chari-Baguirmi, Dababa,
Baguirmi, Hadjer-Lamis)
 Chad 0.303
9 Zone 4 (Ouaddai, Assoungha,
Sila, Wadi Fira)
 Chad 0.306
10 Sahel Region  Burkina Faso 0.308
11 Northern Bahr el Ghazal  South Sudan 0.313
12 Middle Shabelle  Somalia 0.314
13 Warrap  South Sudan 0.315
17 Togdheer  Somalia 0.324
19 Lower Shabelle  Somalia 0.326
20 Timbuktu Region  Mali 0.328
21 Gedo  Somalia 0.329
25 Jonglei State  South Sudan 0.335

Africa

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in 2023 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2023)
Very high human development
1 Port Said Governorate  Egypt 0.822
2 South (Grand Port, Savanne,
Plaines Wilhems, Rivière Noire)
 Mauritius 0.815
3 South-East District  Botswana 0.812
4 Suez Governorate  Egypt 0.808
5 Alexandria Governorate  Egypt 0.805
6 Cairo Governorate  Egypt 0.803
7 North (Port Louis, Pamplemousses,
Rivière du Rempart, Flacq, Moka)
 Mauritius 0.800
High human development
8 Grand Tunis (Ariana, Tunis, Ben Arous, Manouba)  Tunisia 0.790
9 North Center (Algiers, Blida,
Boumerdès, Tipaza, Bouïra, Médéa,
Tizi Ouzou, Béjaïa, Chlef, Aïn Defla)
 Algeria 0.784
10 Damietta  Egypt 0.779

Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in 2023 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2023)
Low human development
1 Middle Juba  Somalia 0.230
2 Galguduud  Somalia 0.279
3 Zone 2 (Borkou, Ennedi, Tibesti,
Kanem, Barh El Gazel, Lac)
 Chad 0.284
4 Hiran  Somalia 0.285
5 Bakool  Somalia 0.296
Bay  Somalia
7 Lower Juba  Somalia 0.302
8 Zone 5 (Chari-Baguirmi, Dababa,
Baguirmi, Hadjer-Lamis)
 Chad 0.303
9 Zone 4 (Ouaddai, Assoungha,
Sila, Wadi Fira)
 Chad 0.306
10 Sahel Region  Burkina Faso 0.308

Asia

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in Asia in 2023 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2023)
Very high human development
1 Capital Area (Gyeonggi, Seoul, Incheon)  South Korea 0.967
2 Southern Kantō (Saitama, Chiba,
Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano)
 Japan 0.951
3 Gyeongnam (South Gyeongsang,
Busan, Ulsan)
 South Korea 0.934
4 Kansai (Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo,
Nara, Wakayama)
 Japan 0.927
5 Tōkai (Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie)  Japan 0.925
6 Center (Riyadh, Al-Qassim)  Saudi Arabia 0.924
7 Chūgoku (Tottori, Shimane, Okayama,
Hiroshima, Yamaguchi)
 Japan 0.921
8 Chungcheong (North Chungcheong,
South Chungcheong, Daejeon, Sejong)
 South Korea 0.920
9 Jeolla (North Jeolla, South Jeolla, Gwangju)  South Korea 0.917
10 North (Northern Borders, Al Jawf, Ha'il)  Saudi Arabia 0.914

Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in Asia in 2023 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2023)
Low human development
1 Hajjah, Sa'dah, 'Amran  Yemen 0.413
2 Al Bayda, Dhamar, Raymah  Yemen 0.420
3 Al Hudaydah, Al Mahwit  Yemen 0.422
4 South (Uruzgan, Helmand, Zabul, Nimroz,
Kandahar)
 Afghanistan 0.423
5 Former Federally Administered Tribal Areas  Pakistan 0.455
6 North East (Baghlan, Takhar, Badakhshan,
Kunduz)
 Afghanistan 0.464
Balochistan  Pakistan
8 West (Ghor, Herat, Badghis, Farah)  Afghanistan 0.466
9 Ibb  Yemen 0.470
10 East (Nangarhar, Kunar, Laghman, Nuristan)  Afghanistan 0.477

Europe

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in Europe in 2022 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2022)
Very high human development
1 Zürich Canton   Switzerland 0.994
2 Greater London  United Kingdom 0.984
3 Oslo and Akershus  Norway 0.982
4 Stockholm County  Sweden 0.976
5 Hamburg  Germany 0.975
6 Lake Geneva region   Switzerland 0.973
7 Capital Region of Denmark  Denmark 0.970
Central Slovenia  Slovenia
9 Berlin  Germany 0.967
Utrecht province  Netherlands

Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in Europe in 2022 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2022)
High human development
1 Southeastern Statistical Region  North Macedonia 0.718
2 Western Ukraine  Ukraine 0.722
3 Central Ukraine  Ukraine 0.727
4 North Ukraine  Ukraine 0.737
5 Central Development Region  Republic of Moldova 0.738
Northeastern Statistical Region  North Macedonia
7 South Ukraine  Ukraine 0.740
8 Eastern Ukraine  Ukraine 0.741
9 Prizren district  Kosovo 0.742
Northern Development Region  Republic of Moldova

North America

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in North America in 2023 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2023)
Very high human development
1 Massachusetts  United States 0.961
New Hampshire  United States
3 Minnesota  United States 0.960
4 Colorado  United States 0.958
5 Hawaii  United States 0.957
Washington  United States
7 Connecticut  United States 0.955
Vermont  United States
9 Alberta  Canada 0.952
District of Columbia  United States

Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in North America in 2023 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2023)
Low human development
1 Centre  Haiti 0.506
2 Artibonite  Haiti 0.521
3 Grand'Anse, Nippes  Haiti 0.525
4 Sud-Est  Haiti 0.533
5 Sud  Haiti 0.540
6 Nord-Est  Haiti 0.544
7 Nord-Ouest  Haiti 0.546
Medium human development
8 Lempira Department  Honduras 0.567
9 North  Haiti 0.569
10 Gracias a Dios Department  Honduras 0.577

South America

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in South America in 2023 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2023)
Very high human development
1 Santiago Metropolitan Region  Chile 0.908
2 Tarapacá Region  Chile 0.904
Arica y Parinacota  Chile
4 Antofagasta Region  Chile 0.900
5 Valparaíso Region  Chile 0.894
6 Magallanes Region  Chile 0.892
7 Atacama Region  Chile 0.881
8 Montevideo  Uruguay 0.878
9 Panama Province  Panama 0.871
10 Northwest Region  Argentina 0.867

Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in South America in 2023 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2023)
Medium human development
1 Brokopondo and Sipaliwini  Suriname 0.591
2 Apure  Venezuela 0.638
3 Potosí Department  Bolivia 0.648
4 Barinas  Venezuela 0.656
5 Portuguesa  Venezuela 0.657
6 Vaupés Department  Colombia 0.663
7 Guárico  Venezuela 0.671
8 Yaracuy  Venezuela 0.671
9 Trujillo  Venezuela 0.678
10 Sucre  Venezuela 0.679

Oceania

Top 10 highest

The 10 regions with the highest HDI in Oceania in 2023 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2023)
Very high human development
1 Australian Capital Territory  Australia 0.988
2 Western Australia  Australia 0.973
3 Wellington Region  New Zealand 0.968
4 Auckland Region  New Zealand 0.967
5 New South Wales  Australia 0.958
6 Victoria  Australia 0.954
7 Queensland  Australia 0.947
8 Northern Territory  Australia 0.944
South Australia  Australia
10 Canterbury Region  New Zealand 0.941

Top 10 lowest

The 10 regions with the lowest HDI in Oceania in 2023 were:

Rank Region Country HDI (2023)
Low human development
1 Hela Province  Papua New Guinea 0.480
2 Enga Province  Papua New Guinea 0.511
Southern Highlands Province  Papua New Guinea
4 Gulf Province  Papua New Guinea 0.541
5 Eastern Highlands Province  Papua New Guinea 0.544
6 Torba Province  Vanuatu 0.549
Medium human development
7 Sandaun Province  Papua New Guinea 0.550
8 Penama Province  Vanuatu 0.564
9 East Sepik Province  Papua New Guinea 0.571
10 Jiwaka Province  Papua New Guinea 0.573

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