• The Human Development Index (HDI) is a measurement system used by the United Nations to assess the level of individual human development in each country.

  • It was introduced by the UN in 1990.
  • The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the highest criterion for assessing the development of a country, and not just economic growth.
  • The HDI uses components such as average annual income and educational expectations to rank and compare countries.
  • The HDI has been criticized by social advocates for not providing a broad enough measure of quality of life, and by economists for providing little additional useful information beyond simpler indicators of economic living standards.