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Five Lowest HDI Countries by Continent

What are the five least developed countries in each continent according to HDI?
2021/2022 HDI report except for the countries marked in gold
HDI measures life expectancy, education, and income
Quiz by cty
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Last updated: November 3, 2022
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First submittedMay 28, 2016
Times taken43,204
Average score66.7%
Rating4.64
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Africa
0.361
Somalia
0.385
South Sudan
0.394
Chad
0.400
Niger
0.404
Central African Republic
 
 
Asia
0.455
Yemen
0.478
Afghanistan
0.544
Pakistan
0.577
Syria
0.585
Myanmar
Europe
0.750
Kosovo
0.767
Moldova
0.770
North Macedonia
0.773
Ukraine
0.780
Bosnia and Herzegovina
 
 
North America
0.535
Haiti
0.621
Honduras
0.627
Guatemala
0.667
Nicaragua
0.675
El Salvador
Oceania
0.558
Papua New Guinea
0.564
Solomon Islands
0.607
Vanuatu
0.624
Kiribati
0.628
F. S. Micronesia
 
 
South America
0.691
Venezuela
0.692
Bolivia
0.714
Guyana
0.717
Paraguay
0.730
Suriname
+28
Level ∞
Oct 24, 2018
HDI is definitely an imperfect measure of how things are going in a country. Recently, we've witnessed refugees from Venezuela trying to get into Colombia, a country whose HDI is actually lower.
+1
Level 67
Oct 27, 2018
That was the one South American country I expected NOT to be on the list.
+3
Level 71
Dec 24, 2020
Colombia doesn't fair well in social indexes due to it's recent turbulent internal conflicts.
+10
Level 75
Dec 25, 2020
The best way to look at HDI isn't as a snapshot but as a trend. If one country is dropping like a stone and its neighbour is slowly going up, then a comparison of this year's number isn't very useful - the situation is clearly dire in one and relatively stable in the other.

Since 2014 Venezuela has been dropping like a stone, and Colombia has been slowly going up...

+4
Level 69
Oct 30, 2018
Well, as I read in another comment section (I thought written by *you*, Quizmaster!), the HDI index is inherently delayed, due to the time required for data collection, compilation, analysis, and reporting. Not that Venezuela has exactly been heaven on earth for quite some time now, but its recent financial implosion has been fast and hard, comparatively. (I assume all HDI methodologies use a PPP-based algorithm for income now? No use having a million dollars in the bank if a cup of black coffee costs two million!)
+3
Level 73
Nov 7, 2018
Also look at the very limited number of countries in South America. The lowest on their list would probably rank near the top of Africa's or even Asia's list.
+9
Level 79
Feb 4, 2019
HDI of Hong Kong: 0.933; Singapore: 0.932; Japan: 0.909; Macau: 0.909; Israel: 0.903; South Korea: 0.903; Taiwan: 0.885; UAE: 0.863; Qatar: 0.856; Brunei: 0.853; Saudi Arabia: 0.853; Bahrain: 0.846; Oman: 0.821; Kuwait: 0.803; Malaysia: 0.802; Kazakhstan: 0.800; Iran: 0.798; Turkey: 0.791; Georgia: 0.780; Sri Lanka: 0.770; Azerbaijan: 0.757; Lebanon: 0.757; Armenia: 0.755; Thailand: 0.755; China: 0.752; Fiji: 0.741; Mongolia: 0.741; Jordan: 0.735; Maldives: 0.717; Uzbekistan: 0.710; Turkmenistan: 0.706 etc.
+19
Level 68
Feb 9, 2021
HDI isn't based on your opinion, it's based on life expectancy, education, and income.
+2
Level 71
Feb 9, 2021
I'm assuming things have changed in the past 2 years? Colombia is significantly above Venezuela now (and is, in fact, roughly on par with Brazil and China).

Although Venezuela still isn't very accurate from what I can tell. More than 50% of their population lives in extreme poverty and their average income is 72 cents a day, and yet they still qualify as being in the "high human development" category, ahead of Vietnam, Morocco, India, and other quickly developing economies?

+4
Level 73
Oct 30, 2018
definitely surprised to find Colombia on the list...
+4
Level 39
Jan 18, 2019
Don't let all the glitzy international celebrities fool you, we've got an awful, corrupt, violent place over in Colombia.
+2
Level 73
Nov 5, 2018
Thank you for the challenging time limit (for me at least). Got it with just a few seconds to spare.
+2
Level 48
Feb 4, 2019
Quite surprised seeing Suriname and Moldova as the most guessed countries, rather than for example Haiti or Afghanistan.
+12
Level 57
Feb 4, 2019
Just guessing but Suriname is probably highly guessed due to the fact South America doesn't have a lot of countries. It's easier to narrow things down.
+3
Level 42
Feb 4, 2019
Is north korea not ranked on these types of lists? I feel like it must atleast be worst then nepal, and probably pakistan too.
+8
Level 78
Feb 4, 2019
I'm not sure if they're ranked, but even if they were, they probably wouldn't be part of the bottom 5 in Asia, since they have a pretty decent life expectancy (low 70s). HDI doesn't measure things like freedom of speech and expression, so North Korea's HDI probably wouldn't be too bad.
+1
Level 82
Feb 6, 2019
Yeah they're actually beating all but one of the bottom five in Europe.
+1
Level 82
Feb 4, 2019
0.766. Nepal and Pakistan are not in good shape.
+1
Level 71
Feb 9, 2021
Nepal and Pakistan are both moving up, but neither of them has been as successful as some of their South Asian neighbors, like India and Bangladesh.
+2
Level 77
Feb 9, 2021
Let's not forget that North Korea has a 100% literacy rate. You don't want to know what they do to people who cannot read in North Korea...
+2
Level 82
Feb 4, 2019
Need more time......I think super fast but I type slug slow.
+2
Level 28
Feb 5, 2019
Where's Antarctica?
+37
Level 82
Feb 7, 2019
Antarctica uses PDI not HDI. Penguin Development Index.
+4
Level 71
Jul 5, 2019
I can't believe North Korea and DRC are not on this list.
+1
Level 32
Dec 28, 2019
I was about to say the same
+2
Level 79
Jan 1, 2021
Wow Venezuela, from among the highest HDIs in South America to the second lowest...
+1
Level 79
Nov 29, 2022
And now lowest...
+2
Level 52
Feb 9, 2021
By any measure, Serbia is worse than Kosovo.
+2
Level 64
Feb 9, 2021
apart from HDI...
+2
Level 64
Feb 9, 2021
Must be dire to live in the vast majority of African countries.
+1
Level 52
Feb 9, 2021
As someone who spent nearly 4 months in Lagos, that's true.
+1
Level 45
Feb 9, 2021
i thought CAR was the worlds poorest country was suprised to see it below niger tbh
+1
Level 56
Apr 25, 2021
Got ‘em all at first try! Can’t believe it
+1
Level 54
Sep 13, 2021
30/30 with only one second left!!!
+3
Level 72
Oct 30, 2022
Needs more time IMO
+1
Level 43
Feb 1, 2023
Add 30 seconds, indeed.
+2
Level 70
Jan 26, 2023
I expected Belarus to make the list
+1
Level 43
Feb 1, 2023
Nice quiz, took me some tries! :D
+1
Level 87
Mar 18, 2024
As pointed out by others above, HDI is a very crude yardstick.

In terms of human happiness, which is far more subjective, the figures can be very misleading.

Lowest ranked in Oceania are the three countries whose citizens seemed to me the happiest in the whole wide world. PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are proof that people can possess very little, yet walk around with the biggest smiles on their faces you have ever seen. Every single person you pass on the street will stop and say “hello,” ask after your health - and mean it!

We have all lived in the thrall of capitalism for so long that we cannot see the wood for the trees…

Interestingly, Bhutan is the first country in the world to attempt to quantify happiness by measuring GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness)