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B. Global Inequalities: Economic Development and Quality of Life · Global Inequalities: Economic Development and Quality of Life

The Human Development Index and Comparing Countries

B3.1 B3.2About 50 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can explain what the Human Development Index (HDI) measures and how it is built.
  • I can calculate GDP per capita.
  • I can compare quality-of-life indicators for more developed and less developed countries using data from reliable sources.
  • I can explain why comparisons need sources, dates and context.

Words to know

Human Development Index (HDI)
A summary number from 0 to 1 published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that combines health, education and income.
UNDP
The United Nations Development Programme, the UN agency that works on reducing poverty and publishes the Human Development Report.
GNI per capita
Gross national income per person: like GDP per capita, but it also counts income people and companies earn from other countries.
purchasing power parity (PPP)
A way of adjusting incomes so they show what money can actually buy in each country, since prices differ.
mean years of schooling
The average number of years of school completed by adults aged 25 and older.
expected years of schooling
The number of years of school a child starting school now is expected to receive.

Hook: one number for a whole country?

In the last lesson you saw that GDP per capita alone can be misleading. In 1990 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published the first Human Development Report with a new idea: measure development by looking at people's lives, not just money. That idea became the Human Development Index (HDI).

A stethoscope, a stack of books and a piggy bank on a wooden table.
Health, education and income: the three things the Human Development Index combines into one number. AI-generated image

What goes into the HDI?

The HDI combines three dimensions:

  1. A long and healthy life: measured by life expectancy at birth.
  2. Knowledge: measured by mean years of schooling (adults 25+) and expected years of schooling (children).
  3. A decent standard of living: measured by GNI per capita, adjusted for prices (PPP).

Each dimension is turned into a score from 0 to 1, and the three are combined. The result is a number between 0 and 1. Closer to 1 means higher human development.

A long and healthy lifeLife expectancyat birthKnowledgeMean years andexpected yearsof schoolingA decent standardof livingGNI per capita(adjusted with PPP)HDI0 = lowest, 1 = highest
How the HDI is built: each of the three dimensions is measured by one or two indicators, and the three scores are combined into one number from 0 to 1.
HDI group (UNDP)HDI value
Very high0.800 and above
High0.700 to 0.799
Medium0.550 to 0.699
Lowbelow 0.550
The four HDI groups used by UNDP.

GDP per capita

GDP per capita = GDP ÷ population. Values are usually given in US dollars so countries can be compared. Because prices are lower in some countries, a dollar can buy more there. That is why the HDI uses income adjusted with PPP.

Worked example

Let's calculate GDP per capita

A country's GDP is $60 billion and its population is 12 million. Find the GDP per capita.

  1. Write the numbers out: $60 000 000 000 ÷ 12 000 000.
  2. Cancel six zeros from each: 60 000 ÷ 12 = 5 000.
  3. Check: 12 million people × $5 000 = $60 billion. ✓

GDP per capita is $5 000 per person.

Comparing five countries

Here are rounded values for five countries named in the Ontario curriculum's examples. Read the caption: every statistic needs a source and a year.

CountryHDI (about)Life expectancy (about, years)GDP per capita (about, US$)Infant mortality (about, per 1 000 live births)
Norway0.978388 0002
Australia0.958365 0003
Canada0.948153 0004
Bangladesh0.67732 50023
Mali0.415990060
Rounded values. Sources: UNDP Human Development Report 2023/2024 (HDI values for 2022); World Bank World Development Indicators (life expectancy 2022, GDP per capita 2023); UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (infant mortality 2022). Values change each year, so check the newest data when you do research.
LowMediumHighVery highNorway0.97Australia0.95Canada0.94Bangladesh0.67Mali0.4100.20.40.60.81HDI value (UNDP, 2022 values)
HDI values from the table, with the four UNDP groups. Notice the big gap between Bangladesh and Mali and the three very high countries, and how close Norway, Australia and Canada are to each other.
Worked example

Let's compare and explain

Use the table to compare Canada and Bangladesh.

  1. Pattern: Canada is higher on HDI, life expectancy and GDP per capita, and lower on infant mortality.
  2. Size of the gap: Canada's GDP per capita is about 53 000 ÷ 2 500 ≈ 21 times Bangladesh's. But life expectancy is only about 8 years higher (81 − 73). Health gaps can be smaller than income gaps.
  3. Context: Bangladesh has made large improvements over the past fifty years, for example in child survival and life expectancy. A single year's snapshot does not show this progress.
  4. Conclusion with evidence: Canada has a higher quality of life on these indicators, but Bangladesh has been improving, and indicators like income can exaggerate the difference in some parts of people's lives.

A good comparison states the pattern, measures the gap, adds context and uses evidence.

Respect and context

Mali is home to a long history of learning and trade; the city of Timbuktu was a famous centre of scholarship, and its manuscripts are still treasured. Numbers like HDI show some conditions today; they do not measure a people's culture, history or worth.

Limits of the HDI

  • It is still an average, so it hides inequality inside a country. (UNDP also publishes an inequality-adjusted HDI.)
  • It leaves out things like safety, freedom, environment and culture.
  • Small differences (0.935 vs 0.939) do not mean much. Look at groups and big gaps.
Just for fun

The HDI goes from 0 to 1, but no country has ever scored a perfect 1. Even the countries at the very top are still around 0.97, so every country, including Canada, still has some homework to do.

Hands-on activity

Build a comparison card

You need: paper, a pencil, and (with a parent) a device to look at UNDP's Human Development Report website or World Bank Data.

  1. Pick one more developed and one less developed country that you have a connection to or are curious about (maybe a country your family or a classmate's family comes from).
  2. Find for each: HDI, life expectancy, GDP per capita, and one more indicator (literacy, access to safe water, or infant mortality). Write the source and year for each.
  3. Make a two-column card and circle the biggest gap.
  4. Write one sentence of context for each country (something about its geography, history or recent progress).

Look for: four indicators per country, each with a source and year, and a respectful context sentence.

Your turn

1

What are the three dimensions of the HDI?

2

Which organization publishes the HDI?

3

A country has an HDI of 0.62. Which HDI group is it in?

4

A country's GDP is $900 million and its population is 300 000. Find GDP per capita.

5

Using the table, how many years longer is life expectancy in Canada than in Mali?

6

Why should every statistic in a report include a source and year?

7

Name one thing the HDI does not measure.

More practice: warm-up

1

Is an HDI of 0.95 high or low?

2

What does HDI stand for?

3

What is the highest possible HDI value?

4

Which country in the table has the lowest infant mortality rate?

5

GDP per capita = GDP ÷ ___.

More practice: on your own

1

Why does the HDI adjust income using PPP?

2

Mali's infant mortality is about 60 per 1 000; Canada's is about 4. About how many times higher is Mali's rate? What might explain the gap?

3

Norway and Australia have the same life expectancy in the table, but Norway's GDP per capita is higher. What does this show?

4

Two countries have HDIs of 0.936 and 0.939. Is one clearly better? Explain.

5

Why might the HDI for a country hide very different conditions in its cities and rural areas?

Challenge

1

A country has very high GNI per capita but only a medium HDI. Suggest two reasons.

2

Design your own index of quality of life with three indicators that are not in the HDI. Explain your choices.

3

Using the table, write a three-sentence comparison of Australia and Mali with a pattern, a gap and a context point.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

The HDI combines which three dimensions?

2.

What is the range of possible HDI values?

3.

A country's GDP is $40 billion and its population is 8 million. What is its GDP per capita?

4.

An HDI of 0.81 is in which group?

5.

Why does income in the HDI use PPP?

6.

Which is the best way to present a statistic in your project?

For parents and teachers

What this lesson is about: the HDI and comparing countries with real data (curriculum examples include Australia, Mali and Bangladesh).

How to help at home:

  • Explore the UNDP Human Development Report website or World Bank Data together. Let your child lead the search, and talk about which sources are reliable.
  • Check every number your child writes has a source and year.

Common difficulties:

  • Treating small HDI differences as important.
  • Comparing totals instead of per-person values.
  • Judgmental language about lower-HDI countries. Encourage your child to add a context sentence about each country's history, geography or progress.