Maldives advances 7 points; ranks 90th on HDI

The Maldives has climbed seven ranks this year in the Human Development Index (HDI) prepared by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

HDI was created to emphasise that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone. The ranks are computed by measuring and combining indicators of sectors such as health, education, and standards of living. 

Ranks in this index are categorised as; Very High Human Development (0.8-1.0), High Human Development (0.7-0.79), Medium Human Development (0.55-.70), and Low Human Development (below 0.55).

The HDI value of Maldives in 2021/22 was 0.747 and in 2020/21 the value was 0.734.

Calculated among 191 countries this time, UNDP has been publishing the information every year, and the 2021/22 HDI's annual rankings report is the 31st in a series that began in 1990.

Maldives was ranked 90th this year among the countries of the 'High Human Development Group', the second highest category in HDI. In the 2020/21 ranking, Maldives was at 97th.

Sri Lanka is ranked the top, at 73rd in the South Asian region. 

Ranks of the region:

Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal are among the HDI’s “Medium Human Development” category. Pakistan and Afghanistan have made very low progress and are in the “Low Human Development” category.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Maldives stood at USD 15,448 last year.

The income gap between men and women in the Maldives is huge; on average, men earn USD 22,119 a year, while women’s average income is at USD 6,359.

There is not much difference in mortality rates and mean years of schooling between genders in the Maldives.

Switzerland tops this year’s rankings, followed by Norway, Iceland, Hong Kong, Australia, and other wealthy nations. Countries from sub-Saharan Africa are among the lowest ranked in human development, with South Sudan at the bottom.