Outline

• The HDI was developed in 1990 by the United Nations to measure the levels of development.
•  It is a composite measure of development, i.e it takes into consideration 3 key variables in determining the level of human development:

  • The health dimension is assessed by life expectancy at birth,
  • the education dimension is measured by the mean of years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and more and expected years of schooling for children of school entering age.
  • The standard of living dimension is measured by gross national income per capita.
• HDI is measured on a scale of 0 to 1.
• Countries with the highest HDI are in Western Europe (e.g Norway’s is 0.949). North America, Australia (0.939).
• The lowest measure is in Central Africa.
•  HDI is a composite measure, meaning more than one variable is taken into account.