The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living. It is a standard means of measuring well-being. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, developing, or underdeveloped country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life. Countries fall into four broad categories based on their HDI: very high, high, medium, and low human development. Currently, Mauritius is the only African country that falls into the very high human development category.
≥ 0.900 0.850–0.899 0.800–0.849 0.750–0.799 0.700–0.749 | 0.650–0.699 0.600–0.649 0.550–0.599 0.500–0.549 | 0.450–0.499 0.400–0.449 ≤ 0.399 Data unavailable |
The table below presents the latest Human Development Index (HDI) for countries in Africa as included in the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report, released on 8 September 2022 and based on data collected in 2021. [1]
All African UN member states, except for Somalia,[2] are included in the report. Several dependent territories administered by non-African states are also not ranked as they are not included in the latest report. Additionally, the borders and autonomy of Western Sahara are contested [3] so an accurate HDI cannot be determined.
List of African countries by Human Development Index | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Country | Human Development Index (HDI) | ||
Region | World | 2021 data (2022 report) | Average annual growth (2010–2021) | |
Very high human development | ||||
1 | 63 | Mauritius | 0.802 | 0.55% |
High human development | ||||
2 | 72 | Seychelles | 0.785 | 0.10% |
3 | 91 | Algeria | 0.745 | 0.30% |
4 | 97 | Egypt | 0.731 | 0.73% |
Tunisia | 0.14% | |||
6 | 104 | Libya | 0.718 | 0.26% |
7 | 109 | South Africa | 0.713 | 0.50% |
8 | 112 | Gabon | 0.706 | 0.56% |
Medium human development | ||||
9 | 117 | Botswana | 0.693 | 0.44% |
10 | 123 | Morocco | 0.683 | 1.14% |
11 | 128 | Cape Verde | 0.662 | 0.25% |
12 | 133 | Ghana | 0.632 | 0.88% |
13 | 138 | São Tomé and Príncipe | 0.618 | 1.00% |
14 | 139 | Namibia | 0.615 | 0.46% |
15 | 144 | Eswatini | 0.597 | 1.57% |
16 | 145 | Equatorial Guinea | 0.596 | 0.26% |
17 | 147 | Zimbabwe | 0.593 | 1.34% |
18 | 148 | Angola | 0.586 | 1.27% |
19 | 151 | Cameroon | 0.576 | 1.06% |
20 | 152 | Kenya | 0.575 | 0.49% |
21 | 153 | Republic of the Congo | 0.571 | 0.16% |
22 | 154 | Zambia | 0.565 | 0.60% |
23 | 156 | Comoros | 0.558 | 0.64% |
24 | 158 | Mauritania | 0.556 | 0.79% |
25 | 159 | Ivory Coast | 0.550 | 1.38% |
Low human development | ||||
26 | 160 | Tanzania | 0.549 | 0.98% |
27 | 162 | Togo | 0.539 | 1.12% |
28 | 164 | Nigeria | 0.535 | 0.95% |
29 | 165 | Rwanda | 0.534 | 0.80% |
30 | 166 | Benin | 0.525 | 0.59% |
Uganda | 0.41% | |||
32 | 168 | Lesotho | 0.514 | 0.88% |
33 | 169 | Malawi | 0.512 | 1.06% |
34 | 170 | Senegal | 0.511 | 0.80% |
35 | 171 | Djibouti | 0.509 | 0.96% |
36 | 172 | Sudan | 0.508 | 0.40% |
37 | 173 | Madagascar | 0.501 | 0.16% |
38 | 174 | Gambia | 0.500 | 0.76% |
39 | 175 | Ethiopia | 0.498 | 1.74% |
40 | 176 | Eritrea | 0.492 | 0.55% |
41 | 177 | Guinea-Bissau | 0.483 | 0.79% |
42 | 178 | Liberia | 0.481 | 0.41% |
43 | 179 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 0.479 | 1.01% |
44 | 181 | Sierra Leone | 0.477 | 1.01% |
45 | 182 | Guinea | 0.465 | 1.04% |
46 | 184 | Burkina Faso | 0.449 | 1.72% |
47 | 185 | Mozambique | 0.446 | 0.95% |
48 | 186 | Mali | 0.428 | 0.53% |
49 | 187 | Burundi | 0.426 | 0.46% |
50 | 188 | Central African Republic | 0.404 | 0.75% |
51 | 189 | Niger | 0.400 | 1.54% |
52 | 190 | Chad | 0.394 | 0.77% |
53 | 191 | South Sudan | 0.385 | 1.00% |