How is the HDI used?
1. To capture the attention of policy makers, media and NGOs and to draw
their attention away from the more usual economic statistics to focus instead
on human outcomes. The HDI was created to re-emphasize that people and their
capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a
country, not economic growth.
2. To question national policy choices - asking how two countries with the same
level of income per person can end up with such different human development
outcomes (HDI levels). For example, Swaziland and Sri Lanka have similar levels of income per person, but life expectancy and literacy differ greatly between the two countries, with Sri Lanka having a much higher HDI value than Swaziland. These striking contrasts
immediately stimulate debate on government policies on health and education,
asking why what is achieved in one country is far from the reach of another.
3. To highlight wide differences within countries, between provinces or states,
across gender, ethnicity, and other socioeconomic groupings. Highlighting
internal disparities along these lines has raised national debate in many
countries.
