Data Review of the Human Development Index
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This data review examines the Human Development Index (HDI), a composite indicator developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to assess human development beyond economic growth through three dimensions: health, education, and standard of living. The HDI is calculated using life expectancy data from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), education indicators from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), and GNI per capita data from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since 2010, the index has been based on a geometric mean to reduce the assumption of substitutability between dimensions. Despite its widespread use, scholars have criticised the HDI's fixed thresholds and limited scope, arguing that it overlooks factors such as empowerment and inequality. The review focuses on the HDI in general, and more specifically on data for 15 relevant countries covered by Discuss Data, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. HDI data for these countries is available annually from 1990 or - for some counties later starting 1995, 2000 or 2005 - facilitating cross-national comparisons. However, for countries undergoing political or demographic transitions, such as Ukraine and Georgia, the HDI may obscure internal disparities and should be supplemented with more detailed indicators.
Author: Luca Marie Bauer
Institution: University of Bremen
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6950021211
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