Which countries have the best, and worst, living standards?

A ranking of 193 countries shows that human development is stalling almost everywhere

May 6th 2025

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IN THE THROES of the covid-19 pandemic—when hospitals overflowed, schools and offices shut, and economies seized up—many asked when the world would recover. Five years later, the data show that the setback to living standards could endure.

The Human Development Index (HDI), produced by the UN, tracks progress in life expectancy, education and income. After GDP it is one of the most widely used measures of development. The global score fell in 2020 and 2021—the first declines since the index began in 1990. It recovered somewhat in 2022. The latest report, released on May 6th, shows that the pace of improvement in 2023 was the slowest on record (see chart).

Rich countries, unsurprisingly, do best. Ninety-seven per cent of them have fully recovered or exceeded their pre-pandemic scores, says Achim Steiner of the United Nations Development Programme. That is true of less than 60% of poor countries.

After two years at the top Switzerland was edged out (barely) by Iceland. Nordic countries have the highest spots in most rankings that measure quality of life. A baby born in Iceland today is expected to live longer than 82 years and receive more than 18 years of schooling. Average income per person is close to $70,000 (explore the full ranking below).

The index does not consider inequality within countries (the UN publishes separate indices on that). Living standards for rich and poor citizens can vary widely. Rich Americans tend to have much longer lives than poor ones. But money isn’t everything. A study led by researchers at Brown University, published in April, found that the richest people in America (which ranks 17th on the HDI) have a mortality rate similar to that of the poorest northern and western Europeans and to that of most eastern Europeans.

The bottom of the index is dominated by sub-Saharan Africa. Life expectancy at birth in South Sudan, the lowest-ranked country, is less than 58 years, average schooling is less than six years and gross national income per person is just $688. After decades of narrowing, the gap between countries at the top and bottom of the index has widened for four years running. The world’s poorest countries have stalled on other indicators, too. Extreme poverty has barely fallen since 2015. Measures of public health have declined since covid. And since the mid-2010s economic growth rates in poor economies have been slower on average than in richer ones. Cuts to aid budgets by governments in America and Europe will make things worse for poor countries. According to the HDI, countries in the Arab world and Latin America and the Caribbean have had the slowest post-pandemic recovery in living standards.

For decades it looked as though on average the world would reach very high levels of development before 2030. If today’s sluggish progress continues, it could take decades longer to reach that milestone.

Human Development Index, 2023

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	Index score,1=most developed	Life expectancyat birth, years	Expected yearsof schooling	Gross national income per person, $*
1 Iceland	0.972	82.7	18.9	69,117
2= Norway	0.970	83.3	18.8	112,710
2= Switzerland	0.970	84.0	16.7	81,949
4 Denmark	0.962	81.9	18.7	76,008
5= Germany	0.959	81.4	17.3	64,053
5= Sweden	0.959	83.3	19.0	66,102
7 Australia	0.958	83.9	20.7	58,277
8= Hong Kong	0.955	85.5	16.9	69,436
8= Netherlands	0.955	82.2	18.6	68,344
10 Belgium	0.951	82.1	19.0	63,582
11 Ireland	0.949	82.4	19.2	90,885
12 Finland	0.948	81.9	19.5	57,068
13= Singapore	0.946	83.7	16.7	111,239
13= Britain	0.946	81.3	17.8	54,372
15 United Arab Emirates	0.940	82.9	15.6	71,142
16 Canada	0.939	82.6	15.9	54,688
17= Liechtenstein	0.938	83.6	15.4	166,812
17= New Zealand	0.938	82.1	19.3	47,260
17= United States	0.938	79.3	15.9	73,650
20 South Korea	0.937	84.3	16.6	49,726
21 Slovenia	0.931	81.6	17.5	46,361
22 Austria	0.930	82.0	16.3	63,479
23 Japan	0.925	84.7	15.5	47,775
24 Malta	0.924	83.3	15.9	52,155
25 Luxembourg	0.922	82.2	14.4	85,461
26 France	0.920	83.3	16.1	55,060
27 Israel	0.919	82.4	14.9	48,050
28 Spain	0.918	83.7	17.8	46,008
29= Czech Republic	0.915	79.8	16.8	45,889
29= Italy	0.915	83.7	16.7	52,389
29= San Marino	0.915	85.7	14.6	64,706
32= Andorra	0.913	84.0	14.5	64,631
32= Cyprus	0.913	81.6	16.2	45,394
34 Greece	0.908	81.9	20.8	35,761
35 Poland	0.906	78.6	16.7	42,218
36 Estonia	0.905	79.2	16.0	40,881
37 Saudi Arabia	0.900	78.7	16.9	50,299
38 Bahrain	0.899	81.3	15.9	52,819
39 Lithuania	0.895	76.0	16.5	41,916
40 Portugal	0.890	82.4	17.5	41,064
41= Croatia	0.889	78.6	16.3	41,380
41= Latvia	0.889	76.2	16.5	37,998
43 Qatar	0.886	82.4	13.1	105,353
44 Slovakia	0.880	78.3	14.9	36,793
45 Chile	0.878	81.2	16.9	28,047
46 Hungary	0.870	77.0	15.5	37,236
47 Argentina	0.865	77.4	18.8	25,876
48= Montenegro	0.862	77.1	15.5	28,026
48= Uruguay	0.862	78.1	17.5	28,650
50 Oman	0.858	80.0	13.4	36,096
51 Turkey	0.853	77.2	19.8	34,507
52 Kuwait	0.852	80.4	15.9	56,612
53 Antigua and Barbuda	0.851	77.6	15.5	27,387
54 Seychelles	0.848	72.9	18.2	29,195
55= Bulgaria	0.845	75.6	15.3	32,175
55= Romania	0.845	75.9	14.1	39,374
57 Georgia	0.844	74.5	16.8	20,753
58 Saint Kitts and Nevis	0.840	72.1	18.4	29,105
59 Panama	0.839	79.6	13.3	34,385
60= Brunei	0.837	75.3	13.7	75,827
60= Kazakhstan	0.837	74.4	14.0	30,989
62= Costa Rica	0.833	80.8	16.3	23,417
62= Serbia	0.833	76.8	15.0	23,115
64 Russia	0.832	73.2	13.2	39,222
65 Belarus	0.824	74.4	13.7	26,725
66 The Bahamas	0.820	74.6	11.9	30,975
67 Malaysia	0.819	76.7	12.7	32,553
68 North Macedonia	0.815	77.4	14.8	22,128
69= Armenia	0.811	75.7	14.4	20,221
69= Barbados	0.811	76.2	16.6	17,328
71 Albania	0.810	79.6	14.5	17,627
72 Trinidad and Tobago	0.807	73.5	14.2	27,000
73 Mauritius	0.806	74.9	14.2	27,280
74 Bosnia-Herzegovina	0.804	77.9	13.2	19,827
75 Iran	0.799	77.7	14.0	16,096
76= Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0.798	71.2	16.3	17,247
76= Thailand	0.798	76.4	15.4	20,570
78 China	0.797	78.0	15.5	22,029
79 Peru	0.794	77.7	14.9	14,339
80 Grenada	0.791	75.2	16.6	14,349
81= Azerbaijan	0.789	74.4	12.9	20,668
81= Mexico	0.789	75.1	14.5	21,813
83 Colombia	0.788	77.7	14.3	18,666
84= Brazil	0.786	75.8	15.8	18,011
84= Palau	0.786	69.3	14.1	16,035
86 Moldova	0.785	71.2	14.6	15,867
87 Ukraine	0.779	73.4	13.3	16,933
88 Ecuador	0.777	77.4	14.9	13,986
89= Dominican Republic	0.776	73.7	13.6	22,024
89= Guyana	0.776	70.2	13.0	46,959
89= Sri Lanka	0.776	77.5	13.1	12,616
92 Tonga	0.769	72.9	17.8	7,438
93= Maldives	0.766	81.0	12.8	19,317
93= Vietnam	0.766	74.6	15.5	13,033
95 Turkmenistan	0.764	70.1	13.2	17,716
96 Algeria	0.763	76.3	15.5	15,114
97 Cuba	0.762	78.1	13.9	8,415
98 Dominica	0.761	71.1	14.2	16,001
99 Paraguay	0.756	73.8	14.0	15,252
100= Egypt	0.754	71.6	13.1	16,218
100= Jordan	0.754	77.8	13.1	9,222
102 Lebanon	0.752	77.8	11.7	11,299
103 Saint Lucia	0.748	72.7	12.7	20,900
104 Mongolia	0.747	71.7	13.6	14,787
105 Tunisia	0.746	76.5	14.7	12,011
106 South Africa	0.741	66.1	13.8	13,694
107 Uzbekistan	0.740	72.4	12.5	8,826
108= Bolivia	0.733	68.6	15.6	9,445
108= Gabon	0.733	68.3	12.5	18,854
108= Marshall Islands	0.733	66.9	16.4	7,224
111= Botswana	0.731	69.2	11.4	16,984
111= Fiji	0.731	67.3	13.8	12,843
113 Indonesia	0.728	71.1	13.3	13,700
114 Suriname	0.722	73.6	11.0	17,344
115= Belize	0.721	73.6	12.0	12,343
115= Libya	0.721	69.3	12.9	19,831
117= Jamaica	0.720	71.5	12.4	10,057
117= Kyrgyzstan	0.720	71.7	12.7	6,078
117= Philippines	0.720	69.8	12.8	10,731
120 Morocco	0.710	75.3	15.1	8,653
121 Venezuela	0.709	72.5	13.0	7,157
122 Samoa	0.708	71.7	12.4	5,952
123 Nicaragua	0.706	74.9	11.5	6,881
124 Nauru	0.703	62.1	12.8	19,642
125 Bhutan	0.698	73.0	13.2	13,843
126= Eswatini	0.695	64.1	15.2	9,919
126= Iraq	0.695	72.3	12.4	12,654
128 Tajikistan	0.691	71.8	10.8	5,747
129 Tuvalu	0.689	67.1	12.4	7,006
130= Bangladesh	0.685	74.7	12.3	8,498
130= India	0.685	72.0	13.0	9,047
132 El Salvador	0.678	72.1	11.1	10,595
133= Equatorial Guinea	0.674	63.7	12.5	12,762
133= Palestinian Territories	0.674	65.2	13.0	6,547
135 Cape Verde	0.668	76.1	11.4	8,165
136 Namibia	0.665	67.4	11.8	10,917
137 Guatemala	0.662	72.6	10.7	12,459
138 Congo-Brazzaville	0.649	65.8	12.7	5,903
139 Honduras	0.645	72.9	10.2	6,065
140 Kiribati	0.644	66.5	11.9	4,947
141 São Tomé and Príncipe	0.637	69.7	12.9	5,583
142 Timor-Leste	0.634	67.7	13.3	5,435
143= Ghana	0.628	65.5	11.4	6,846
143= Kenya	0.628	63.6	11.5	5,608
145 Nepal	0.622	70.4	13.8	4,726
146 Vanuatu	0.621	71.5	11.8	3,404
147 Laos	0.617	69.0	9.6	8,106
148 Angola	0.616	64.6	12.2	6,631
149 Micronesia	0.615	67.2	11.5	4,246
150 Myanmar	0.609	66.9	11.5	4,919
151 Cambodia	0.606	70.7	11.2	4,931
152 Comoros	0.603	66.8	13.3	3,481
153 Zimbabwe	0.598	62.8	11.1	3,511
154 Zambia	0.595	66.3	11.0	3,447
155 Cameroon	0.588	63.7	10.8	4,746
156 Solomon Islands	0.584	70.5	11.3	2,777
157= Ivory Coast	0.582	61.9	11.4	6,735
157= Uganda	0.582	68.3	11.6	2,736
159 Rwanda	0.578	67.8	12.6	2,971
160 Papua New Guinea	0.576	66.1	11.5	3,971
161 Togo	0.571	62.7	13.1	2,856
162 Syria	0.564	72.1	7.4	3,918
163 Mauritania	0.563	68.5	7.9	6,267
164 Nigeria	0.560	54.5	10.5	5,569
165 Tanzania	0.555	67.0	8.6	3,515
166 Haiti	0.554	64.9	10.9	2,935
167 Lesotho	0.550	57.4	11.0	3,029
168 Pakistan	0.544	67.6	7.9	5,501
169 Senegal	0.530	68.7	9.1	4,202
170 The Gambia	0.524	65.9	9.0	2,812
171 Congo, Dem. Rep.	0.522	61.9	10.9	1,431
172 Malawi	0.517	67.4	9.9	1,634
173 Benin	0.515	60.8	10.4	3,806
174 Guinea-Bissau	0.514	64.1	10.6	2,403
175 Djibouti	0.513	66.0	6.2	6,368
176 Sudan	0.511	66.3	8.6	2,810
177 Liberia	0.510	62.2	10.5	1,538
178 Eritrea	0.503	68.6	7.3	2,029
179 Guinea	0.500	60.7	10.4	3,494
180 Ethiopia	0.497	67.3	9.2	2,796
181 Afghanistan	0.496	66.0	10.8	1,972
182 Mozambique	0.493	63.6	10.8	1,356
183 Madagascar	0.487	63.6	9.1	1,656
184 Yemen	0.470	69.3	7.5	1,018
185 Sierra Leone	0.467	61.8	9.1	1,714
186 Burkina Faso	0.459	61.1	8.7	2,391
187 Burundi	0.439	63.7	9.8	859
188= Mali	0.419	60.4	7.0	2,342
188= Niger	0.419	61.2	8.3	1,590
190 Chad	0.416	55.1	8.3	1,748
191 Central African Republic	0.414	57.4	7.4	1,100
192 Somalia	0.404	58.8	7.5	1,475
193 South Sudan	0.388	57.6	5.6