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Indicator

Human Development Index by African country

2023

UNDP composite index of life expectancy, education and income on a 0-1 scale (higher is better).

Africa, 202354 of 54 countries
0.576population-weighted average
Highest in 2023Seychelles · 0.848Lowest in 2023South Sudan · 0.388Reported in 20230 of 54 countries surveyed
Click a country to pin it — pinned countries are named on the map. Hatching means no record.
Western Sahara — no separate recordTanzania — 0.555Democratic Republic of the Congo — 0.522Somalia — 0.404Kenya — 0.628Sudan — 0.511Chad — 0.416South Africa — 0.741Lesotho — 0.550Zimbabwe — 0.598Botswana — 0.731Namibia — 0.665Senegal — 0.530Mali — 0.419Mauritania — 0.563Benin — 0.515Niger — 0.419Nigeria — 0.560Cameroon — 0.588Togo — 0.571Ghana — 0.628Cote d'Ivoire — 0.582Guinea — 0.500Guinea-Bissau — 0.514Liberia — 0.510Sierra Leone — 0.467Burkina Faso — 0.459Central African Republic — 0.414Republic of the Congo — 0.649Gabon — 0.733Equatorial Guinea — 0.674Zambia — 0.595Malawi — 0.517Mozambique — 0.493Eswatini — 0.695Angola — 0.616Burundi — 0.439Madagascar — 0.487Gambia — 0.524Tunisia — 0.746Algeria — 0.763Eritrea — 0.503Morocco — 0.710Egypt — 0.754Libya — 0.721Ethiopia — 0.497Djibouti — 0.513Uganda — 0.582Rwanda — 0.578South Sudan — 0.388Nigeria 0.560Nigeria 0.560Ethiopia 0.497Ethiopia 0.497Kenya 0.628Kenya 0.628South Africa 0.741South Africa 0.7412023HIGHEST IN 2023Seychellesnot drawn0.848Mauritiusnot drawn0.806Algeria0.763Egypt0.754Tunisia0.746LOWEST IN 2023South Sudan0.388Somalia0.404Central African Republic0.414Chad0.416Niger0.419PINNEDEthiopia0.49743 of 54Kenya0.62818 of 54Nigeria0.56029 of 54South Africa0.7416 of 54OTHER ISLAND STATES · NOT DRAWNCabo Verdenot drawn0.668Comorosnot drawn0.603Sao Tome and Principenot drawn0.637index · quintiles of the observed range0.390.490.520.590.670.85no record
20142024
UNDP · national statistics offices · the provider's own estimates where a country has not reportedCC BY 4.0
Countries

By region

Population-weighted, so a region’s figure is the share of its people, not the average of its countries.
Southern Africa5 of 5 countries0.731
Northern Africa6 of 6 countries0.703
Middle Africa9 of 9 countries0.543
Western Africa16 of 16 countries0.539
Eastern Africa18 of 18 countries0.532
Africaall 54 countries · 54 with a 2023 figure0.576

What to know before you quote this

Specific to this series. For how we treat data generally, see methods.
54 countries have no usable 2024 recordNot a low value — no figure within the window. Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso and 49 more are hatched on the map and blank in the table.
Certainty is judged year by yearA country can be Reported in one year and Modelled the next. The tag follows the year on the scrubber, so the 2024 assessment is not a verdict on the whole series.

About this data

Human Development IndexUNDP composite index of life expectancy, education and income on a 0-1 scale (higher is better).
SourceUNDP, with processing by Africa API
Unitindex
Last updated26 Jun 2026
Next expected updateJun 2027
Date range1990–2023
Coverage54 of 54 countries · 0 reported, 54 modelled, 0 with no usable figure

How the figure is made

ReportedA national statistics office or the original provider published the figure for that year directly. 0 countries did so for 2023 — the certainty shown on this page is that 2023 assessment, not a per-series one.ModelledNo direct figure that year. The provider’s own estimate, interpolation or projection stands in, and is marked as such wherever it appears.No dataNo usable figure within the window. Drawn hatched on the map and left blank in the table — not zero, and not filled in.

These three states are used the same way across every indicator on the site — how we treat certainty explains the full set and what we never do to a number.

Reuse and cite

Everything on this page is open under CC BY 4.0 — use it anywhere, including commercially, as long as Africa API and the original provider are credited. The provider’s own licence still applies to their data.

How to cite this page
Africa API (2026) — "Human Development Index". Data adapted from UNDP. Retrieved 18 Oct 2026 from africa-api.com/indicators/human-development-index
The request behind this view
GET /v1/data?metric_key=human_development_index&year=2023&limit=100

Read next

The measures that explain this one.
DevelopmentGender Inequality IndexUNDP index of gender-based disadvantage across reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market on a 0-1 scale (higher is worse).DevelopmentInequality-adjusted HDIHuman Development Index discounted for inequality across its dimensions, on a 0-1 scale (higher is better).EconomyGDPGross domestic product in current US dollars.

Human Development Index: most recent figure per country, highest to lowest

54 countries · each with its own period

The figures at the top of the page compare every country in the same year. This list takes each country’s newest figure instead, whatever its period, so the order can differ.

#CountryHuman Development IndexPeriod
1Seychelles0.8482023
2Mauritius0.8062023
3Algeria0.7632023
4Egypt0.7542023
5Tunisia0.7462023
6South Africa0.7412023
7Gabon0.7332023
8Botswana0.7312023
9Libya0.7212023
10Morocco0.712023
11Eswatini0.6952023
12Equatorial Guinea0.6742023
13Cabo Verde0.6682023
14Namibia0.6652023
15Republic of the Congo0.6492023
16Sao Tome and Principe0.6372023
17Ghana0.6282023
18Kenya0.6282023
19Angola0.6162023
20Comoros0.6032023
21Zimbabwe0.5982023
22Zambia0.5952023
23Cameroon0.5882023
24Cote d'Ivoire0.5822023
25Uganda0.5822023
26Rwanda0.5782023
27Togo0.5712023
28Mauritania0.5632023
29Nigeria0.562023
30Tanzania0.5552023
31Lesotho0.552023
32Senegal0.532023
33Gambia0.5242023
34Democratic Republic of the Congo0.5222023
35Malawi0.5172023
36Benin0.5152023
37Guinea-Bissau0.5142023
38Djibouti0.5132023
39Sudan0.5112023
40Liberia0.512023
41Eritrea0.5032023
42Guinea0.52023
43Ethiopia0.4972023
44Mozambique0.4932023
45Madagascar0.4872023
46Sierra Leone0.4672023
47Burkina Faso0.4592023
48Burundi0.4392023
49Mali0.4192023
50Niger0.4192023
51Chad0.4162023
52Central African Republic0.4142023
53Somalia0.4042023
54South Sudan0.3882023
Which observations are included?
The ranking includes 54 of 54 countries with available observations for 2023 or later and within 2 years of the freshest result. Each figure shows its reporting period. Countries without an eligible observation are omitted.
Does a higher value mean a better result?
The ranking is sorted by value, from highest to lowest. The order does not rate a country's performance. Interpretation depends on the indicator and its definition.

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