What is human development index

what is the human development index there are various standards that can be used to evaluate how developed country is country's economic growth as measured by gdp and gni can be used or the average life expectancy living in country with high gdp and long average life expectancy can provide conditions to ensure happiness and it's more likely that you will live comfortably enjoying the advantages of modern civilization however we cannot evaluate happiness on the standard of wealth alone that is why the united nations uses summary measure that takes into account how long baby is expected to live when born the number of expected years and average years of schooling and average income of the country's people to evaluate the quality of life of countries in the world this measure is known as the human development index or hdi the hdi was first introduced in 1990 as part of new approach for advancing human well-being the new approach is about expanding the richness of human life by focusing on people and their opportunities and choices specifically the hdi measures human well-being on three dimensions first health is measured by life expectancy at birth second education is measured by means of years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and more and expected years of schooling for children of school entering age third the standard of living is measured by gross national income per capita the annual human development report published by the united nations development program evaluates the quality of life of countries in the world using the hdi the hdi is measurement between zero and one the closer it is to one the higher the quality of life and degree of development let's take look at the human development report published in december here are the top ranking countries according to 2019 hdi values norway ranks number one ireland and switzerland ranked number two and hong kong ranked number three these countries have the highest level of human development something seems little odd doesn't it countries we usually consider as the world's most powerful do not appear in the top ranks why it is probably because while those countries enjoy high economic and military powers their citizens quality of life is not as high on the other end of the spectrum chad central african republic and niger ranked the lowest these countries have the lowest level of human development let's think about the issues of these countries life expectancy at birth in the highest ranking country norway is 82.4 years whereas in the lowest ranking country niger is 62.4 years that's difference of 20 years main years of schooling in norway is 12.9 years compared to that of niger which is 12.1 years or difference of almost 11 years furthermore the gni per capita in norway is four dollars 66 norway which is fifty five times greater than that of niger which is one thousand two hundred one dollars the citizens of the low ranking countries are living life that is far behind what humanity can enjoy in the 21st century in terms of income education public health and environment the gap between these and high ranking countries is expected to further widen due to coving 19. when inequality increases the world moves farther away from peace the reason the human development index is measured every year is not to simply rank the countries in order but to help raise the hdi of low-ranking countries to create better world where everyone can prosper together peace does not come about automatically it is something that we need to create together let us all work together to help the low hdi ranking countries raise the quality of public health education and standard of living of their citizens