Countries with the Highest HDI

Name the countries with the best quality of life as measured by Human Development Index.

2021/22 HDI report. Data are from the year 2021.

HDI measures income, life expectancy, and education

Hong Kong is given because it is not a sovereign nation

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Last updated: November 1, 2022

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First submitted	April 18, 2012
Times taken	127,556
Average score	90.0%
Rating	4.96

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HDI	Country
n/a	Monaco
n/a	Vatican City
0.962	Switzerland
0.961	Norway
0.959	Iceland
0.952	Hong Kong
0.951	Australia
0.948	Denmark

HDI	Country
0.947	Sweden
0.945	Ireland
0.942	Germany
0.941	Netherlands
0.940	Finland
0.939	Singapore
0.937	Belgium
0.937	New Zealand

HDI	Country
0.936	Canada
0.935	Liechtenstein
0.930	Luxembourg
0.929	United Kingdom
0.925	Japan
0.925	South Korea
0.921	United States

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101 Recent Comments

Level 85

Nov 17, 2015

What, no Vatican City?

+10

Level 53

Oct 31, 2020

The Popes live in squalor.

Level 21

Jan 27, 2016

I got em all :D

Level 22

Feb 21, 2016

Was totally going to type "Australia" and then thought, "no, not Australia." I'm so mad!

Level 68

Aug 5, 2016

That is madness! Got them all WooHoo.

Level 30

Jun 3, 2016

I'm surprised the USA is so far above and Japan is so low. I guess it is to do with GDP but still....

Level 40

Sep 5, 2016

at 0.892 does Luxembourg not make the list?

Level 75

Nov 8, 2016

Seems the data is a little outdated. The latest table on Wikipedia shows a slightly different ranking and even gives no-UN scores for Monaco and San Marino which would come in at 1 and 7 in the list.

Level 36

Nov 8, 2016

I don't get how Israel beat France

Level 70

Nov 8, 2016

Although interesting, this quiz is nigh on useless as facts go. 0.06 is the difference between first and last. I've lived and worked in six of these countries and have stayed and travelled through many others. There is no country listed that has managed to give the 'Best Quality of Life' to all it's people, on the contrary, where many people live in luxury and with all the chances there are many with nothing for assets and no chance to better themselves.

Level 87

Mar 22, 2017

Wow, this quiz seems to inspire loads of heated commentary. So let me be the first 2017 commenter. What happened to Slovenia this year? I was just there and it's as beautiful, friendly and developed as ever...

Level ∞

Mar 22, 2017

The HDI numbers keep going up. So a country can fall off the list if its HDI doesn't increase as fast as others.

Level 91

Mar 23, 2017

Otherwise known as "List of Countries I Would Have No Qualms About Visiting".

Level 60

Mar 24, 2017

Israel and South Korea higher than Finland?

Level 48

Mar 24, 2017

When it's 2 or 4 thousandths (hundredths?) of a percent does it matter?

Level 67

Mar 24, 2017

Does anyone have any insight into why Monaco is not on this list? Very surprising.

Level 75

Mar 24, 2017

Read the earlier comments. It didn't generate enough data to be included on the list.

Level 73

Mar 24, 2017

Missed Israel :(

Level 65

Mar 24, 2017

Don't see too many religious countries on here...hmmmm....

Level 22

Mar 26, 2017

Or that many black or Arab countries. Makes you wonder.

Level 62

Mar 30, 2021

wonder about the lingering effects of colonialism that took place centuries ago? sure does!

Level 28

Apr 6, 2021

Yeah, Hong Kong and Singapore are really feeling those colonial effects. lol.

Level 74

Nov 28, 2022

Well, obviously some places that were colonized are going to propsper — but the fact is, most former colonies are still feeling the effects of imperialism.

Level 71

Oct 2, 2023

I can't help but feel that there is a rather trite assumption of cause and effect in this reading of history.

Level 59

Mar 24, 2017

Aussie Aussie Aussie!

Level 76

Mar 24, 2017

Glad to see the UK back on the list.

Why aren't microstates like Monaco/Andorra etc or rich oil states like Qatar/Bahrain on here though? Why doesn't their wealth correlate to their HDI? I'm sure there are reasons, but I don't know enough about these places to guess why.

Level 81

Mar 24, 2017

Bahrain is not very oil rich. Their oil has been exhausted and currently their economy, as far as I can tell, depends mostly on Russian, Chinese, and Moroccan prostitutes servicing the young Saudi men who flood across the causeway every weekend. They've also got some shopping malls and an F1 track but that's about it.

Qatar, Kuwait and the Emirates are more wealthy and have more oil but I think education and life expectancy lag behind wages in these countries, which could negatively impact their HDI score.

Level 76

Mar 25, 2017

Interesting, thanks

Level 81

Oct 4, 2018

I've been told by my friends who are still in Bahrain that some of the most notorious brothotels in Hoora have either closed up shop or gotten rid of the working girls on the premises, and now that they are allowing women to drive in Saudi Arabia and they started opening up movie theaters there, too, Saudi weekend tourism to Bahrain has dropped dramatically. The island nation's economy might be in serious trouble over the next few years.

Level 66

Mar 24, 2017

UK will be back off the list next time...a nation going backwards

Level 81

Mar 10, 2018

That's my guess too, but I hope I'm proved wrong. Either way, it's a good test of the Brexit decision.

Level 79

Feb 12, 2021

On the contrary, the United Kingdom's HDI score has been increasing year-on-year, and now has overtaken the United States'.

Level 5

Mar 24, 2017

Roosa from Finland

This the right order:

1 Norway

2 Australia

3. Denmark

4. Switzerland

5. Canada

6. Sweden

7. New-Zealand

8. Finland

9. United States

10. Iceland

11. Netherlands

Level 60

Mar 24, 2017

That's your opinion. This is based on statistics.

(From Wikipedia) The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income per capita indicators. A country scores higher HDI when the life expectancy at birth is longer, the education period is longer, and the income per capita is higher. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing or an underdeveloped country.

Level 71

Jan 22, 2019

Uhm im pretty sure it is not just her opinion. Too detailed list and not an order you'd expect if someone told their personal preferences.

just because she didnt post her source doesnt mean it is an opinion. (Perhaps it is simply the latest data of the source you quoted, or another place that has more recent data than wikipedia)

Level 54

Jan 4, 2021

See Hitchen's razor...

Hitchens' razor is an epistemological razor expressed by writer Christopher Hitchens. It says that the burden of proof regarding the truthfulness of a claim lies with the one who makes the claim; if this burden is not met, then the claim is unfounded, and its opponents need not argue further in order to dismiss it

Level 77

Mar 26, 2017

Otherwise I'd forget luxembourg and liechtenstein existed.. I'll show myself out ;

Level 65

Jul 4, 2017

Monaco and San Marino have yet to be official scored due to a lack of information, but Monaco is estimated in 2014 to be 1.074 and San Marino is estimated to be around 0.875.

Level 53

Oct 12, 2020

Isn't 1.000 the upper bound?

Level 70

Dec 25, 2020

No it is not, the HDI formula is just adjusted all several years such that it is really hard to exceed 1.000.

Level 42

Sep 29, 2018

GO NORWAY!!!

Level 72

Oct 4, 2018

Since Monaco made the list, I'm assuming that the number of Ferraris and yachts owned per capita figures highly into the HDI.

Level ∞

Oct 30, 2018

If I owned Monaco's soccer team, I'd rename them the Monaco Monocles to reflect the nation's proud culture as a tax haven for the megarich.

Level 68

Oct 30, 2018

Description says 20 but there's 22 answers!

Level ∞

Oct 30, 2018

Removed the number from the description.

Level 71

Dec 10, 2018

I'm used to the EIU report for HDI, surprised to see how different the UN report is!

Level 45

Dec 10, 2018

I'm not completely suprised France isn't here, but I am suprised the UK and US could get in and we couldn't. I'm sure they cheated the test !

(Disclaimer : I am kidding.)

Level 52

Nov 30, 2022

France isn't here because it has quite low mean years of schooling for a developed country. Education is 1/3 of the index. It actually scores higher than the UK in health (life expectancy) and the economy.

Level 66

Dec 10, 2018

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland are all doing nicely without full EU membership. Take note UK.

Level 62

Dec 11, 2018

Yes but Norway and Iceland are in the EEA and Switzerland doesn't do passport check if someone passes through their borders so...take note UK.

Level 29

Sep 6, 2020

Ahem *brexit*

Level 68

Dec 11, 2018

Got them all with no wrong attempts. Good guessing!

Level 57

Jan 27, 2019

Got them all; Great Quiz! Another quiz with Human Capital, check this out, too:

Human Capital Index - Top 25 Nations

Level 47

Mar 23, 2019

Vatican not doing so good?

Level 81

Oct 1, 2019

Since the well-being of children is such an important component of HDI and there aren't any children born in the Vatican I assume they don't even bother ranking them.

Level 43

Oct 6, 2019

Got all except Iceland. Nice play, icy boys

Level 55

May 7, 2020

I am honestly a bit surprised Hong Kong is higher than the Netherlands (and other countries, but I can only speak for HK and the NL). I have lived in both places and I absolutely love both, but just the housing situation alone in HK shouldn't give them such a high spot. A lot of people have to live in really small appartments (whereas they'd live in bigger and better appartments or most probably even houses in the Netherlands), which decreases the quality of life a bit I'd say. I hope the HK government will set up a good housing plan like Singapore did, but as we can see these days they barely care their residents anyways unfortunately :/

Level 57

Jun 2, 2020

I'm so surprised about the placement of a country like Japan relative to Hong Kong- based solely on overcrowding and political disunity in Hong Kong, I would have placed Japan much higher.

Level 49

Nov 26, 2020

Only missed Ireland :)

Level 83

Dec 24, 2020

Haha i never expected Slovenia here. It certainly doesn't translate to happiness 😃

Level 50

Apr 5, 2021

What do you mean with that? Why wouldn't you expect Slovenia here?

Level 87

Dec 24, 2020

So here we are in 2020, and still, the haunting visions of the despairing slums of Luxembourg are keeping them off the list...

Level 85

Dec 24, 2020

Your source puts Liechtenstein above Slovenia.

Level ∞

Dec 24, 2020

Fixed

Level 78

Dec 25, 2020

Interesting fact: 11 out of the 20 countries with the best quality of life are nominally Monarchies. Obviously, it can't be that bad to have a king or queen (or prince or emperor or ...)

Level 76

Dec 25, 2020

There is this saying: A good king is better than a bad democracy.

A bad king, however... Nominally = risk management.

Level 67

Feb 2, 2021

Most of these monarchies the monarchs (head of state) have almost no power. The power lies inside the parliamentary system and most of them are chosen by a plural vote or something very similar.

Level 67

Mar 30, 2021

I typed Monaco 17 times before realizing this is a different quiz.

Level 59

Mar 30, 2021

Really Israel is above Luxembourg???? That's strange

Level 57

Mar 30, 2021

I imagine luxembourg is barely off the list. Israel has a good healthcare system, keep in mind right now they have the highest percent of people vaccinated in the world

Level 20

Apr 2, 2021

isn't isreal the highest?

Level 73

Mar 30, 2021

If you are going to give San Marino, Monaco etc, then either give Liechtenstein as well or remove the others please.

Level 62

Mar 30, 2021

i don't think you understand why they're there.

Level 36

Apr 1, 2021

He's not giving those three, values are not available. Not the same thing.

Level 48

Mar 30, 2021

Norway is #1 in the world, eh? That must explain why they have such a massive illegal immigration problem.

Level 72

Jul 6, 2021

Source?

Level 22

Mar 30, 2021

Northern Europe always be on their A-Game

Level 35

Mar 30, 2021

They're the best when it comes to things like this.

Level 44

Mar 31, 2021

I expect that the quality of life is going to significantly go down for Hong Kong in the coming years. So sad :(

Level 20

Apr 2, 2021

why

Level 65

Dec 4, 2022

China is absorbing Hong Kong

Level 20

Apr 2, 2021

how come luxembourg isnt't in the list？

Level 28

Apr 6, 2021

As someone who has lived in Ireland and Switzerland. Switzerland should be waaay higher. I don't really understand how they did this. Also, no Andorra??

Level 58

May 14, 2022

Andorra is 36th behind Poland.

Level 81

May 17, 2022

This seems bizarre to me. I stopped in Andorra for lunch recently... the whole country seems like Vail or Aspen... how the heck could it have lower HDI than Poland?

Level 54

Sep 9, 2022

I don't really know either, as I am Irish and have been to Switzerland. I saw that in Switzerland everything was beautiful, and all the lakes and rivers were so clean even in the city centre, and everyone seemed happy enough, but it was very expensive so maybe they dropped down because of affordability? Ireland is pretty expensive too though but definitively not as so as Switzerland.

Level 59

Aug 14, 2021

luxembourg ??

Level 69

Aug 14, 2021

My thoughts exactly

Level 69

Aug 14, 2021

Got Switzerland and Iceland with 26 seconds remaining

Level 48

Oct 27, 2022

Lol, I missed out of all countries United States and Israel. I was thinking about both, but assumed that given their security and government stability problems those will be somewhere between 20-30 and did not even bother to type them... :D

Level 48

Oct 27, 2022

And to be honest, I still have difficulties believing, these countries can be there, while Belgium, Luxembourg, South Korea or Estonia are not. The HDI is a bit weird metric.

Level 80

Nov 1, 2022

3 out of those 4 just got added with the latest update.

Level 69

Nov 1, 2022

Well the update made you more correct lol

Level 69

Nov 1, 2022

Wow, the USA has fallen to 20th. I wonder if it will make it to next year's

Level 76

Nov 28, 2022

i hate switzerland

Level 59

Nov 28, 2022

why lol

Level 68

Nov 28, 2022

What’s not to love about mountains and trains?

Level 75

Nov 28, 2022

Is there a quiz for inequality-adjusted HDI? I think that'd be more revealing than this.

Level 49

Nov 28, 2022

Alternate Title: Western Countries

Level 64

Nov 28, 2022

Why not Austria?

Level 46

May 13, 2024

20/20 :3

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