Human Development Index by country, 1990 to 2023

Iceland scored 0.972 on the Human Development Index in 2023; Norway and Switzerland each scored 0.970.

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What the data shows

In 2023, Iceland ranks #1 with 0.972, ahead of Switzerland (0.970) and Norway (0.970).
Back in 1990, United States was #1 with 0.878.
The top spot changed hands 6 times, first to Norway in 1994, most recently to Iceland in 2023.
Biggest climber: Iceland, from #9 in 1990 to #1 in 2023.

About this chart

Iceland’s Human Development Index was 0.972 in 2023, with Norway and Switzerland each at 0.970. Denmark followed at 0.962. The United States led the 1990 comparison at 0.878, while Australia and Canada followed. The series therefore shows a change in the leading country as well as changes in the scores themselves.

HDI combines health, education and income into a summary index. A higher score does not mean a country leads on every underlying measure, and close scores can conceal different strengths. The index is also distinct from inequality, happiness and environmental sustainability measures, which address other aspects of living conditions.

The data

Source: UNDP Human Development Report via Our World in Data. Retrieved November 5, 2026. HDI combines health, education and income. It is not a measure of inequality, happiness or environmental sustainability.

Human Development Index by country, HDI, scale from 0 to 1, 1990 to 2023, 1990–2023
Date	🇮🇸 Iceland	🇨🇭 Switzerland	🇳🇴 Norway	🇩🇰 Denmark	🇩🇪 Germany	🇸🇪 Sweden	🇦🇺 Australia	🇳🇱 Netherlands	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	🇧🇪 Belgium	🇮🇪 Ireland	🇫🇮 Finland	🇸🇬 Singapore	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	🇨🇦 Canada	🇺🇸 United States	🇳🇿 New Zealand	🇯🇵 Japan
1990	0.841	0.858	0.856	0.844	0.834	0.818	0.867	0.855	0.755	0.824	0.776	0.823	0.819	0.812	0.865	0.878	0.811	0.853
1991	0.853	0.860	0.863	0.848	0.841	0.821	0.868	0.860	0.764	0.829	0.780	0.827	0.826	0.816	0.868	0.878	0.813	0.857
1992	0.860	0.863	0.868	0.850	0.849	0.829	0.868	0.861	0.773	0.845	0.787	0.833	0.833	0.824	0.873	0.882	0.822	0.859
1993	0.863	0.867	0.875	0.853	0.859	0.850	0.872	0.863	0.784	0.860	0.794	0.838	0.840	0.827	0.871	0.884	0.838	0.865
1994	0.868	0.870	0.890	0.859	0.865	0.862	0.873	0.889	0.793	0.868	0.805	0.850	0.848	0.836	0.877	0.887	0.852	0.872
1995	0.863	0.872	0.887	0.862	0.870	0.869	0.882	0.886	0.800	0.875	0.809	0.856	0.854	0.835	0.881	0.888	0.858	0.874
1996	0.873	0.875	0.894	0.870	0.875	0.877	0.884	0.890	0.808	0.881	0.816	0.863	0.859	0.841	0.884	0.890	0.862	0.880
1997	0.881	0.880	0.900	0.876	0.881	0.888	0.887	0.891	0.817	0.884	0.823	0.871	0.866	0.849	0.884	0.893	0.871	0.883
1998	0.893	0.886	0.908	0.883	0.887	0.901	0.891	0.893	0.823	0.886	0.855	0.880	0.869	0.856	0.883	0.895	0.881	0.884
1999	0.895	0.889	0.913	0.894	0.892	0.906	0.893	0.894	0.830	0.889	0.858	0.889	0.875	0.862	0.888	0.895	0.886	0.885
2000	0.902	0.892	0.924	0.896	0.897	0.912	0.897	0.900	0.839	0.894	0.869	0.898	0.882	0.870	0.894	0.895	0.896	0.889
2001	0.910	0.895	0.923	0.902	0.904	0.915	0.900	0.902	0.847	0.899	0.876	0.908	0.885	0.876	0.897	0.897	0.902	0.892
2002	0.917	0.896	0.923	0.902	0.909	0.918	0.902	0.898	0.854	0.901	0.883	0.912	0.891	0.881	0.899	0.898	0.905	0.894
2003	0.925	0.901	0.930	0.907	0.914	0.923	0.906	0.901	0.861	0.903	0.891	0.915	0.897	0.886	0.902	0.900	0.910	0.896
2004	0.928	0.906	0.937	0.912	0.923	0.908	0.910	0.904	0.866	0.909	0.899	0.911	0.905	0.897	0.906	0.905	0.912	0.899
2005	0.935	0.909	0.939	0.917	0.923	0.911	0.914	0.907	0.872	0.911	0.905	0.914	0.911	0.903	0.909	0.907	0.917	0.900
2006	0.936	0.918	0.942	0.917	0.927	0.915	0.917	0.914	0.879	0.913	0.908	0.917	0.911	0.902	0.913	0.911	0.918	0.903
2007	0.941	0.926	0.943	0.918	0.931	0.917	0.919	0.920	0.891	0.916	0.911	0.920	0.914	0.905	0.914	0.914	0.921	0.905
2008	0.935	0.934	0.943	0.922	0.933	0.913	0.924	0.920	0.907	0.917	0.907	0.921	0.924	0.910	0.916	0.914	0.920	0.905
2009	0.934	0.942	0.944	0.915	0.933	0.912	0.927	0.920	0.909	0.919	0.907	0.916	0.928	0.915	0.915	0.915	0.923	0.905
2010	0.935	0.945	0.947	0.920	0.936	0.918	0.929	0.925	0.912	0.921	0.915	0.920	0.932	0.921	0.918	0.919	0.926	0.907
2011	0.941	0.946	0.949	0.934	0.942	0.920	0.933	0.935	0.918	0.923	0.909	0.924	0.933	0.916	0.921	0.920	0.927	0.906
2012	0.946	0.949	0.950	0.938	0.944	0.920	0.938	0.935	0.923	0.923	0.911	0.924	0.933	0.917	0.927	0.923	0.929	0.909
2013	0.950	0.952	0.953	0.941	0.945	0.940	0.935	0.937	0.928	0.925	0.915	0.934	0.934	0.931	0.930	0.925	0.933	0.912
2014	0.954	0.956	0.956	0.939	0.949	0.943	0.937	0.939	0.932	0.930	0.921	0.936	0.934	0.932	0.932	0.926	0.932	0.914
2015	0.956	0.957	0.959	0.943	0.948	0.945	0.938	0.940	0.937	0.933	0.931	0.938	0.935	0.931	0.932	0.928	0.934	0.917
2016	0.959	0.959	0.962	0.951	0.949	0.947	0.939	0.941	0.940	0.936	0.936	0.940	0.934	0.934	0.933	0.929	0.938	0.918
2017	0.962	0.960	0.965	0.951	0.951	0.949	0.940	0.945	0.946	0.940	0.941	0.942	0.935	0.937	0.935	0.931	0.936	0.920
2018	0.966	0.962	0.966	0.950	0.952	0.950	0.945	0.947	0.952	0.942	0.944	0.945	0.939	0.936	0.935	0.934	0.938	0.921
2019	0.969	0.965	0.967	0.953	0.957	0.955	0.947	0.950	0.952	0.945	0.947	0.947	0.942	0.941	0.937	0.936	0.938	0.922
2020	0.965	0.963	0.969	0.954	0.955	0.951	0.950	0.945	0.950	0.939	0.948	0.947	0.944	0.930	0.931	0.925	0.940	0.922
2021	0.967	0.968	0.969	0.958	0.958	0.958	0.954	0.951	0.961	0.948	0.946	0.949	0.948	0.941	0.937	0.921	0.939	0.922
2022	0.964	0.966	0.967	0.959	0.955	0.959	0.952	0.953	0.950	0.945	0.947	0.946	0.942	0.946	0.935	0.930	0.933	0.921
2023	0.972	0.970	0.970	0.962	0.959	0.959	0.958	0.955	0.955	0.951	0.949	0.948	0.946	0.946	0.939	0.938	0.938	0.925

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Frequently asked questions

Which country has the highest Human Development Index?

Iceland had the highest reported HDI in 2023, at 0.972, in this UNDP dataset.

What does HDI measure?

It summarizes health, education and income. It is not itself an index of happiness, inequality or environmental sustainability.

Where does this data come from?

UNDP Human Development Report via Our World in Data. Retrieved November 5, 2026. HDI combines health, education and income. It is not a measure of inequality, happiness or environmental sustainability. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.

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