What is HDI and how is it calculated?
HDI stands for Human Development Index, and is defined as an aggregate score that ranks countries by levels of human development.
The HDI is an average measure of health, education and income in a country, with a maximum final score of 1. Therefore, a 0.8 HDI score refers to 80% human development in a given country.
Countries are grouped into four human development categories or quartiles: very high, high, medium and low. A country is in the very high group if its HDI is in the top quartile, in the high group if its HDI is in percentiles 51–75, in the medium group if its HDI is in percentiles 26–50, and in the low group if its HDI is in the bottom quartile.
Arab world HDI
| Country | 2016 (points) | 2017 (points) | 2018 (points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | 0.745 | 0.754 | 0.754 |
| Bahrain | 0.824 | 0.846 | 0.846 |
| Chad | 0.396 | 0.404 | 0.404 |
| Comoros | 0.497 | 0.503 | 0.503 |
| Djibouti | 0.473 | 0.476 | 0.476 |
| Egypt | 0.691 | 0.696 | 0.696 |
| Eritrea | 0.420 | 0.440 | 0.440 |
| Iraq | 0.649 | 0.685 | 0.685 |
| Jordan | 0.741 | 0.735 | 0.735 |
| Kuwait | 0.804 | 0.803 | 0.803 |
| Lebanon | 0.763 | 0.757 | 0.757 |
| Libya | 0.716 | 0.706 | 0.706 |
| Mauritania | 0.513 | 0.520 | 0.520 |
| Morocco | 0.647 | 0.667 | 0.667 |
| Oman | 0.822 | 0.821 | 0.821 |
| Palestine | 0.684 | 0.686 | 0.686 |
| Qatar | 0.856 | 0.856 | 0.856 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0.847 | 0.853 | 0.853 |
| Somalia | - | 0.364 | - |
| Sudan | 0.490 | 0.502 | 0.502 |
| Syria | 0.536 | 0.536 | 0.536 |
| Tunisia | 0.725 | 0.735 | 0.735 |
| United Arab Emirates | 0.840 | 0.863 | 0.863 |
| Western Sahara | - | - | - |
| Yemen | 0.462 | 0.452 | 0.452 |
All data has been independently sourced and verified by Arab Research & Advocacy Bureau. For more information, or to request bespoke Arab world data analysis, please contact us.
Data Usage
Many social scientists argue that variables other than income, health and education should be also taken into account when measuring human development, for example political freedom, disposable income, class equality and vocational interests.