Africa rankings

Human Development Index in Africa

Name: Human Development Index in Africa by country
Creator: PollsAfrica

UNDP's measure of health, education and income for every African country, with how it has changed and where each sits in the world.

What Human Development Index measures

UNDP's summary of health, schooling and income; 1 is the highest.

Map: Human Development Index in AfricaDarker means better. Hover over a country for its figure and rank, or click it for the full country page.

0.39 to 0.49
0.49 to 0.52
0.52 to 0.59
0.59 to 0.67
0.67 to 0.85
No figure

Seychelles leads Africa on Human Development Index0 to 1, latest year (2023). The 15 highest.

View the data as a table

Item	Value
Seychelles	0.85
Mauritius	0.81
Algeria	0.76
Egypt	0.75
Tunisia	0.75
South Africa	0.74
Botswana	0.73
Gabon	0.73
Libya	0.72
Morocco	0.71
Eswatini	0.70
Cabo Verde	0.67
Equatorial Guinea	0.67
Namibia	0.67
Congo	0.65
São Tomé and Príncipe	0.64
Ghana	0.63
Kenya	0.63
Angola	0.62
Comoros	0.60
Zambia	0.60
Zimbabwe	0.60
Cameroon	0.59
Côte d'Ivoire	0.58
Rwanda	0.58
Uganda	0.58
Togo	0.57
Mauritania	0.56
Nigeria	0.56
Tanzania	0.56
Lesotho	0.55
Senegal	0.53
Benin	0.52
Democratic Republic of the Congo	0.52
Gambia	0.52
Malawi	0.52
Djibouti	0.51
Guinea-Bissau	0.51
Liberia	0.51
Sudan	0.51
Eritrea	0.50
Ethiopia	0.50
Guinea	0.50
Madagascar	0.49
Mozambique	0.49
Sierra Leone	0.47
Burkina Faso	0.46
Burundi	0.44
Chad	0.42
Mali	0.42
Niger	0.42
Central African Republic	0.41
Somalia	0.40
South Sudan	0.39

Source: UNDP, Human Development Report, composite indices time series. Last checked 24 October 2026.

Where Human Development Index is lowest0 to 1, latest year.

View the data as a table

Item	Value
Mozambique	0.49
Sierra Leone	0.47
Burkina Faso	0.46
Burundi	0.44
Chad	0.42
Mali	0.42
Niger	0.42
Central African Republic	0.41
Somalia	0.40
South Sudan	0.39

Source: UNDP, Human Development Report, composite indices time series. Last checked 24 October 2026.

Human development in Africa's most populous countriesHuman Development Index, 0 to 1.

View the data as a table

Period	Nigeria	Ethiopia	Egypt	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Tanzania
2000	0.44	0.29	0.64	0.39	0.41
2001	0.44	0.31	0.64	0.39	0.42
2002	0.45	0.31	0.64	0.39	0.43
2003	0.46	0.32	0.64	0.40	0.44
2004	0.48	0.33	0.65	0.40	0.46
2005	0.48	0.35	0.65	0.41	0.47
2006	0.49	0.37	0.65	0.41	0.48
2007	0.49	0.38	0.66	0.42	0.49
2008	0.50	0.40	0.67	0.43	0.50
2009	0.50	0.41	0.67	0.43	0.50
2010	0.50	0.42	0.68	0.44	0.51
2011	0.51	0.43	0.68	0.45	0.52
2012	0.51	0.43	0.69	0.45	0.52
2013	0.52	0.44	0.70	0.46	0.52
2014	0.52	0.45	0.70	0.47	0.52
2015	0.53	0.46	0.71	0.48	0.52
2016	0.53	0.46	0.71	0.49	0.52
2017	0.53	0.47	0.72	0.49	0.53
2018	0.54	0.48	0.73	0.50	0.54
2019	0.54	0.48	0.74	0.50	0.55
2020	0.55	0.49	0.74	0.51	0.55
2021	0.55	0.49	0.74	0.51	0.55
2022	0.56	0.49	0.75	0.51	0.55
2023	0.56	0.50	0.75	0.52	0.56

Source: UNDP, Human Development Report, composite indices time series. Last checked 24 October 2026.

Human Development Index by region0 to 1, population-weighted, latest year.

View the data as a table

Item	Value
Southern Africa	0.73
North Africa	0.70
Central Africa	0.54
West Africa	0.54
East Africa	0.54

Source: UNDP, Human Development Report, composite indices time series. Last checked 24 October 2026.

Human Development Index in every African countryClick a heading to sort, or a country for its page. Filter by region.

Showing 54 of 54

Rank
3	Algeria	North Africa	0.76	2023	76.5	75.1	5,997	77.4
19	Angola	Central Africa	0.62	2023	64.8	68.2	3,588	40.7
33	Benin	West Africa	0.52	2023	61.0	51.4	1,661	34.0
7	Botswana	Southern Africa	0.73	2023	69.3	81.2	7,802	57.5
47	Burkina Faso	West Africa	0.46	2023	61.3	41.6	1,150	28.3
48	Burundi	East Africa	0.44	2023	63.8	71.3	469	8.6
12	Cabo Verde	West Africa	0.67	2023	76.2	88.5	5,961	74.7
23	Cameroon	Central Africa	0.59	2023	64.0	72.6	1,980	46.3
52	Central African Republic	Central Africa	0.41	2023	57.7	42.4	841	13.8
49	Chad	Central Africa	0.42	2023	55.2	30.6	1,158	12.6
20	Comoros	East Africa	0.60	2023	67.0	75.6	1,768	32.5
15	Congo	Central Africa	0.65	2023	66.0	76.1	2,378	47.3
24	Côte d'Ivoire	West Africa	0.58	2023	62.1	50.0	3,037	41.4
34	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Central Africa	0.52	2023	62.1	68.5	872	19.7
37	Djibouti	East Africa	0.51	2023	66.2	Not published	4,251	65.3
4	Egypt	North Africa	0.75	2023	71.8	79.5	3,379	74.7
13	Equatorial Guinea	Central Africa	0.67	2023	63.9	88.3	7,850	63.3
41	Eritrea	East Africa	0.50	2023	68.9	64.7	Not published	14.4
11	Eswatini	Southern Africa	0.70	2023	64.3	90.8	4,148	63.4
42	Ethiopia	East Africa	0.50	2023	67.6	60.5	1,142	21.9
8	Gabon	Central Africa	0.73	2023	68.5	88.9	9,491	68.7
35	Gambia	West Africa	0.52	2023	66.1	51.6	974	49.5
17	Ghana	West Africa	0.63	2023	65.7	76.5	3,271	72.2
43	Guinea	West Africa	0.50	2023	60.9	39.6	2,675	33.3
38	Guinea-Bissau	West Africa	0.51	2023	64.3	63.9	1,315	29.8
18	Kenya	East Africa	0.63	2023	63.8	82.2	2,548	35.0
31	Lesotho	Southern Africa	0.55	2023	57.8	90.5	1,170	51.8
39	Liberia	West Africa	0.51	2023	62.3	59.4	910	32.2
9	Libya	North Africa	0.72	2023	71.1	Not published	5,998	82.0
44	Madagascar	East Africa	0.49	2023	63.8	74.7	619	18.7
36	Malawi	East Africa	0.52	2023	67.6	70.2	627	19.0
50	Mali	West Africa	0.42	2023	60.7	35.6	1,238	36.8
28	Mauritania	West Africa	0.56	2023	68.7	59.5	2,723	45.8
2	Mauritius	East Africa	0.81	2023	73.8	94.3	12,935	73.3
10	Morocco	North Africa	0.71	2023	75.5	64.3	4,878	91.2
45	Mozambique	East Africa	0.49	2023	63.8	61.7	659	20.5
14	Namibia	Southern Africa	0.67	2023	67.5	87.6	4,924	64.9
51	Niger	West Africa	0.42	2023	61.4	35.6	730	15.6
29	Nigeria	West Africa	0.56	2023	54.6	70.4	1,223	41.2
25	Rwanda	East Africa	0.58	2023	68.0	78.8	1,156	31.7
16	São Tomé and Príncipe	Central Africa	0.64	2023	69.9	87.4	4,084	59.1
32	Senegal	West Africa	0.53	2023	68.9	50.4	1,934	60.1
1	Seychelles	East Africa	0.85	2023	76.3	94.0	19,007	87.8
46	Sierra Leone	West Africa	0.47	2023	62.0	43.6	874	25.1
53	Somalia	East Africa	0.40	2023	59.0	54.1	780	27.9
6	South Africa	Southern Africa	0.74	2023	66.3	91.2	6,769	78.4
54	South Sudan	East Africa	0.39	2023	57.7	26.8	454	6.7
40	Sudan	North Africa	0.51	2023	66.5	53.5	724	18.6
30	Tanzania	East Africa	0.56	2023	67.2	78.2	1,270	31.2
27	Togo	West Africa	0.57	2023	62.9	72.6	1,371	39.5
5	Tunisia	North Africa	0.75	2023	76.7	86.3	4,637	76.5
26	Uganda	East Africa	0.58	2023	68.5	77.0	1,384	9.0
21	Zambia	East Africa	0.60	2023	66.5	71.8	1,310	17.1
22	Zimbabwe	East Africa	0.60	2023	63.1	93.2	3,358	41.6

Source: UNDP, Human Development Report, composite indices time series. Last checked 24 October 2026.

Method and source

UNDP's summary of health, schooling and income; 1 is the highest. We show each country's latest published year, so years differ; the table gives the year for each. Africa and regional figures are weighted by population. We do not estimate missing figures. Source: UNDP, Human Development Report, composite indices time series.

Frequently asked questions

Which African country has the highest Human Development Index?

Seychelles, at 0.85 in 2023. Then Mauritius (0.81), Algeria (0.76), Egypt (0.75) and Tunisia (0.75). Source: UNDP, Human Development Report, composite indices time series.

Which African country has the lowest Human Development Index?

South Sudan, at 0.39 in 2023, followed by Somalia (0.4), Central African Republic (0.41) and Niger (0.42).

What is the Human Development Index in Nigeria?

0.56 in 2023, 29th of 54 in Africa. More on Nigeria: https://pollsafrica.com/countries/nigeria#development

What is the Human Development Index in Ethiopia?

0.5 in 2023, 42nd of 54 in Africa. More on Ethiopia: https://pollsafrica.com/countries/ethiopia#development

What is the Human Development Index in Egypt?

0.75 in 2023, 4th of 54 in Africa. More on Egypt: https://pollsafrica.com/countries/egypt#development

Human Development Index in Africa

What Human Development Index measures

Related

Method and source

Frequently asked questions