Highlight

2009 Report
available now

HDR 2009 logo
This report breaks new ground in applying a human development approach to the study of migration.

Learn more

Bookmark and Share

HDI Trends

The first Human Development Report (1990) introduced a new way of measuring development by combining indicators of life expectancy, educational attainment and income, the Human Development Index (HDI). The breakthrough for the HDI was the creation of a single statistic which was to serve as a frame of reference for both social and economic development. The HDI sets a minimum and a maximum for each dimension, called goalposts, and then shows where each country stands in relation to these goalposts, expressed as a value between 0 and 1.

Note: HDI rankings for the 2009 Report are based on 2007 data.

Flash (GIF) Note: If the animation above is not loading, you may need to install the Flash player. The application is free and can be downloaded from this link: Adobe Flash Player Download.