The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistical tool used to measure a country's overall achievement in its social and economic dimensions. It provides a broader and more comprehensive measure of a country's development than just economic indicators like GDP.
The HDI was created by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is published annually in the Human Development Report.
It is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development:
\begin{enumerate}
\item A long and healthy life: This is measured by life expectancy at birth.
\item Knowledge: This is measured by two indicators:
\[\begin{array}{rl} \bullet & \text{Mean years of schooling (for adults aged 25 years and more).} \\ \bullet & \text{Expected years of schooling (for children of school entering age).} \\ \end{array}\]
\item A decent standard of living: This is measured by Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP).
\end{enumerate}
The HDI ranks countries into four tiers of human development: very high, high, medium, and low. It emphasizes that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.