Human Development Index Calculator

Work out human development index instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Human Development Index Calculator

HDI is the geometric mean of three normalised indices: life expectancy scaled between 20 and 85 years, education from expected and mean years of schooling, and log GNI per capita scaled between 100 and 75,000 PPP dollars. The geometric mean means poor performance on any one dimension cannot be offset by the others.

Formulas

Health index

Health = (Life expectancy - 20) / (85 - 20)

Education index

Education = [min(EYS/18, 1) + min(MYS/15, 1)] / 2

Income index

Income = (ln GNI - ln 100) / (ln 75,000 - ln 100)

HDI

HDI = cube root of (Health x Education x Income)

Worked example

With the default values below, Human Development Index Calculator returns Human Development Index of 0.6739. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Life expectancy at birth: 70.8 years
Expected years of schooling: 12.6
Mean years of schooling (adults): 6.7
GNI per capita (PPP USD): 9,200

Results

Human Development Index: 0.6739
Health (life expectancy) index: 0.7815
Education index: 0.5733
Income index: 0.6830

Step by step

1Values used
2Health index
3Education index
4Income index
5HDI
6Human Development Index= 0.6739
7Health (life expectancy) index= 0.7815
8Education index= 0.5733
9Income index= 0.6830

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 4 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
Indicative estimate only. Fees, entitlements, limits and formulas vary by jurisdiction, statute, policy wording and the facts of the case. This is not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice — confirm with a qualified professional or the relevant authority.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Indicative estimate only. Fees, entitlements, limits and formulas vary by jurisdiction, statute, policy wording and the facts of the case. This is not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice — confirm with a qualified professional or the relevant authority.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why a geometric rather than arithmetic mean?

Because it makes the dimensions imperfectly substitutable. A country cannot compensate for very low life expectancy simply by having high income.

Why is income logged?

Because the contribution of income to human development diminishes as income rises — the difference between 1,000 and 2,000 dollars matters far more than between 40,000 and 41,000.