List of African countries by Human Development Index facts for kids

The Human Development Index (HDI) is like a report card for countries. It helps us understand how well people are living in different places. The HDI looks at three main things:

• How long people live (health)
• How much people learn (education)
• How good their living conditions are (like having enough money and resources)

This index helps us see if a country is doing really well, still growing, or needs more help. It also shows how new rules and plans affect people's lives. Countries are put into four groups based on their HDI score: very high, high, medium, and low human development. Right now, Mauritius is the only country in Africa that has a "very high" human development score.

Understanding the Human Development Index in Africa

African countries by Human Development Index (2020 report, showing 2019 data). The map uses different colors to show the HDI score for each country.

≥ 0.900      0.850–0.899      0.800–0.849      0.750–0.799      0.700–0.749

0.650–0.699      0.600–0.649      0.550–0.599      0.500–0.549

0.450–0.499      0.400–0.449      ≤ 0.399      Data unavailable

The table below shows the most recent Human Development Index (HDI) scores for countries in Africa. This information comes from the United Nations Development Programme's report, which was shared on September 8, 2022. The data used for these scores was collected in 2021.

Almost all African countries that are UN members are included in this report, except for Somalia. Some areas that are governed by countries outside of Africa are not ranked. This is because they are not part of the latest report. Also, the borders and independence of Western Sahara are still being discussed, so its HDI score cannot be accurately measured.

List of African countries by Human Development Index
Rank		Country	Human Development Index (HDI)
Region	World		2021 data (2022 report)​	Average annual growth (2010–2021)​
Very high human development
1	63	Mauritius	0.802	0.55%
High human development
2	72	Seychelles	0.785	0.10%
3	91	Algeria	0.745	0.30%
4	97	Egypt	0.731	0.73%
		Tunisia		0.14%
6	104	Libya	0.718	0.26%
7	109	South Africa	0.713	0.50%
8	112	Gabon	0.706	0.56%
Medium human development
9	117	Botswana	0.693	0.44%
10	123	Morocco	0.683	1.14%
11	128	Cape Verde	0.662	0.25%
12	133	Ghana	0.632	0.88%
13	138	São Tomé and Príncipe	0.618	1.00%
14	139	Namibia	0.615	0.46%
15	144	Eswatini	0.597	1.57%
16	145	Equatorial Guinea	0.596	0.26%
17	147	Zimbabwe	0.593	1.34%
18	148	Angola	0.586	1.27%
19	151	Cameroon	0.576	1.06%
20	152	Kenya	0.575	0.49%
21	153	Republic of the Congo	0.571	0.16%
22	154	Zambia	0.565	0.60%
23	156	Comoros	0.558	0.64%
24	158	Mauritania	0.556	0.79%
25	159	Ivory Coast	0.550	1.38%
Low human development
26	160	Tanzania	0.549	0.98%
27	162	Togo	0.539	1.12%
28	164	Nigeria	0.535	0.95%
29	165	Rwanda	0.534	0.80%
30	166	Benin	0.525	0.59%
		Uganda		0.41%
32	168	Lesotho	0.514	0.88%
33	169	Malawi	0.512	1.06%
34	170	Senegal	0.511	0.80%
35	171	Djibouti	0.509	0.96%
36	172	Sudan	0.508	0.40%
37	173	Madagascar	0.501	0.16%
38	174	Gambia	0.500	0.76%
39	175	Ethiopia	0.498	1.74%
40	176	Eritrea	0.492	0.55%
41	177	Guinea-Bissau	0.483	0.79%
42	178	Liberia	0.481	0.41%
43	179	Democratic Republic of the Congo	0.479	1.01%
44	181	Sierra Leone	0.477	1.01%
45	182	Guinea	0.465	1.04%
46	184	Burkina Faso	0.449	1.72%
47	185	Mozambique	0.446	0.95%
48	186	Mali	0.428	0.53%
49	187	Burundi	0.426	0.46%
50	188	Central African Republic	0.404	0.75%
51	189	Niger	0.400	1.54%
52	190	Chad	0.394	0.77%
53	191	South Sudan	0.385	1.00%

See also

• List of African countries by GDP (nominal)
• List of African countries by GDP (PPP)
• List of African countries by GDP (PPP) per capita
• List of African countries by population
• List of countries by Human Development Index
• List of countries by Human Development Index by region
• List of countries by percentage of population living in poverty
• Poverty in Africa