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Development · Africa ranking

Human Development Index by African country

0.848Seychelles leads · 2023

Seychelles has the highest Human Development Index of any African country, at 0.848, ahead of Mauritius and Algeria.

UNDP composite index of life expectancy, education and income on a 0-1 scale (higher is better). 54 of 54 countries, ranked · UNDP HDI, 2023.

1Seychelles0.8482Mauritius0.8063Algeria0.763
#1 vs #542.2×Seychelles vs South Sudan
Median0.563Mauritania
Lowest0.388South Sudan

By region

regional average
North Africa0.701
6 countries · led by Algeria
Southern Africa0.654
7 countries · led by South Africa
Central Africa0.583
9 countries · led by Gabon
East Africa0.553
16 countries · led by Seychelles
West Africa0.527
16 countries · led by Cabo Verde

Full ranking

54 of 54 countries
#CountryHuman Development IndexPeriod
1Seychelles
0.8482023
2Mauritius
0.8062023
3Algeria
0.7632023
4Egypt
0.7542023
5Tunisia
0.7462023
6South Africa
0.7412023
7Gabon
0.7332023
8Botswana
0.7312023
9Libya
0.7212023
10Morocco
0.712023
11Eswatini
0.6952023
12Equatorial Guinea
0.6742023
13Cabo Verde
0.6682023
14Namibia
0.6652023
15Republic of the Congo
0.6492023
16Sao Tome and Principe
0.6372023
17Ghana
0.6282023
18Kenya
0.6282023
19Angola
0.6162023
20Comoros
0.6032023
21Zimbabwe
0.5982023
22Zambia
0.5952023
23Cameroon
0.5882023
24Cote d'Ivoire
0.5822023
25Uganda
0.5822023
26Rwanda
0.5782023
27Togo
0.5712023
28Mauritania
0.5632023
29Nigeria
0.562023
30Tanzania
0.5552023
31Lesotho
0.552023
32Senegal
0.532023
33Gambia
0.5242023
34Democratic Republic of the Congo
0.5222023
35Malawi
0.5172023
36Benin
0.5152023
37Guinea-Bissau
0.5142023
38Djibouti
0.5132023
39Sudan
0.5112023
40Liberia
0.512023
41Eritrea
0.5032023
42Guinea
0.52023
43Ethiopia
0.4972023
44Mozambique
0.4932023
45Madagascar
0.4872023
46Sierra Leone
0.4672023
47Burkina Faso
0.4592023
48Burundi
0.4392023
49Mali
0.4192023
50Niger
0.4192023
51Chad
0.4162023
52Central African Republic
0.4142023
53Somalia
0.4042023
54South Sudan
0.3882023

Get this ranking via API

GET /v1/data

One call to /v1/data returns the latest Human Development Index figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.

curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=human_development_index&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"
Get a free API key

Cite or republish this ranking

Data: Africa API — UNDP HDI, 2023. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.

Embed this ranking

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Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).

<iframe src="https://africa-api.com/embed/human-development-index" width="100%" height="560" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:10px;max-width:640px" title="Human Development Index by African country — Africa API"></iframe>
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Frequently asked questions

Which African country has the highest Human Development Index?

Seychelles has the highest Human Development Index in Africa at 0.848 (2023), followed by Mauritius and Algeria.

Which African country has the lowest Human Development Index?

South Sudan has the lowest Human Development Index of the 54 African countries with data, at 0.388 (2023).

How many African countries report Human Development Index data?

54 of 54 African countries have a recent Human Development Index figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's full series with source and history.

How do I get this ranking via API?

Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=human_development_index&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.

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