# Human Development Index/Quality of Life rankings 2009



## Abidrovia (Jan 25, 2009)

*The 2009 Human Development Index is out (which represents the 2007 year.)
*










*
VERY HIGH HUMAN DEVELOPMENT*
Very Dark Green= .950 +
Dark Green= .900-.949
*HIGH HUMAN DEVELOPMENT*
Green= .850-.899
Lime Green= .800-.849
*MEDIUM HUMAN DEVELOPMENT*
Light Green= .750-.799
Yellow= .700-.749
Very Light Orange= .650-.699
Light Orange= .600-.649
Orange= .550-.559
Dark Orange= .500-.549
*LOW HUMAN DEVELOPMENT*
Red= .450-.499
Dark Red= .400-.449
Brown= .350-.399
Black= .349 and under
Grey= unavailable

*Top 6 America's (North and South America);*
1. Canada (.966)
2. United States (.956)
3. Barbados (.903)
4. Chile (.878)
5. Antigua and Barbuda (.868)
6. Argentina (.866)

*Top 6 Europe;*
1. Norway (.971)
2. Iceland (.969)
3. Ireland (.965)
4. Netherlands (.964)
5. Sweden (.963)
6. France (.961)
*
Top 6 Asia/Oceania;*
1. Australia (.970)
2. Japan (.960)
3. New Zealand (.950)
4. Singapore (.944)
5. Hong Kong (.944)
6. South Korea (.937)
*
Top 6 Africa;*
1. Libya (.847)
2. Seychelles (.845)
3. Mauritius (.804)
4. Tunisia (.769)
5. Gabon (.755)
6. Algeria (.754)

http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/

So what do you think about the Human Development Index? And where does your country stand?


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## Concrete Stereo (May 21, 2005)

> Developed by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, The HDI has been used since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme for its annual Human Development Reports. The HDI combines three dimensions:
> Life expectancy at birth, as an index of population health and longevity
> Knowledge and education, as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weighting) and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio (with one-third weighting).
> Standard of living, as measured by the natural logarithm of gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity.


It's a very balanced criterium.

Netherlands (.964)

Does anyone know why Germany and UK are considerably lower than NL/BE/FR/Scandinavia/Swiss/AU/even Italy and Spain?

EDIT: it's not a gradient, Germany/UK are .947, Italy is .951


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## Abidrovia (Jan 25, 2009)

Concrete Stereo said:


> It's a very balanced criterium.
> 
> Netherlands (.964)
> 
> Does anyone know why Germany and UK are considerably lower than NL/BE/FR/Scandinavia/Swiss/AU/even Italy?


I just wish more can be included in the report such as Crime, Unemployment, Pollution, Transportation, etc. But it still is the best way of measuring quality of life out there. (GDP and Human Poverty Index is useless in determining quality of life).


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## foadi (Feb 15, 2006)

not good for comparison purposes. first of all the methodology they use is stupid. second of all, using unequal areas doesn't tell you anything. it would be much more interesting if it was HDI by city, for example. Or HDI by regional blocs with equal population.


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## Concrete Stereo (May 21, 2005)

It is a per capita index, so unequal areas just make the resolution very low with big countries. I do agree, there are huge varieties within countries. It would be very interesting indeed to have the same map on a resolution of municipality scale or perhaps province/state scale.

For Brazil this looks like this:









USA


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## Concrete Stereo (May 21, 2005)




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## Abidrovia (Jan 25, 2009)

Concrete Stereo said:


> It is a per capita index, so unequal areas just make the resolution very low with big countries. I do agree, there are huge varieties within countries. It would be very interesting indeed to have the same map on a resolution of municipality scale or perhaps province/state scale.
> 
> For Brazil this looks like this:
> 
> ...


Interesting.

The average Alabama resident has the same quality of life as the average Jamaican, Iranian and Chinese person.

and if Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee were their own countries than they would have the same HDI as Brazil.

and South Carolina, Wyoming, Montana and Florida are on the same level as Mexico.


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## -Corey- (Jul 8, 2005)

That Map of the US is wrong, it uses a different methodology. If we use the same methodology as the UN, then the state with the lowest HDI, would be Mississippi with around 903. I mean come on NM or Oklahoma are not that poor. Ill try to find the right data.

Here's the map.


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## Dimethyltryptamine (Aug 22, 2009)

Hate it when Australia is #2


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## wjfox (Nov 1, 2002)

Please read the forum rules before posting here. They are stickified at the top of the forum.


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