Which has higher human development index, Malawi or Zimbabwe?

Malawi, at 0.415 HDI against 0.387 HDI in Zimbabwe as of 2011.

How many years of comparable data are there for Malawi and Zimbabwe?

10 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2011.

Where does this data come from?

http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/data/, published as Human development index (HDI). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Malawi vs Zimbabwe: Human development index

Malawi

0.415 HDI

in 2011

Zimbabwe

0.387 HDI

in 2011

Malawi rank

36th

Zimbabwe rank

38th

Human development index over time

Malawi
Zimbabwe

How they compare

Malawi currently reports 0.415 HDI against 0.387 HDI in Zimbabwe, a difference of 0.028 HDI.

That makes Malawi's figure about 1.1 times Zimbabwe's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 10 shared years of data; in 1980 it was Zimbabwe ahead.

Malawi ranks 36th and Zimbabwe ranks 38th of 50 countries.

Across the 4 decades both report, Malawi averaged higher in 2 and Zimbabwe in 2.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Malawi	Zimbabwe	Difference	Ahead
1980s	0.272 HDI	0.367 HDI	0.095 HDI	Zimbabwe
1990s	0.295 HDI	0.427 HDI	0.132 HDI	Zimbabwe
2000s	0.377 HDI	0.3567 HDI	0.0203 HDI	Malawi
2010s	0.414 HDI	0.3805 HDI	0.0335 HDI	Malawi

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher human development index, Malawi or Zimbabwe?: Malawi, at 0.415 HDI against 0.387 HDI in Zimbabwe as of 2011.
What is the difference in human development index between Malawi and Zimbabwe?: 0.028 HDI, with Malawi ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Malawi and Zimbabwe?: 10 years are reported by both, from 1980 to 2011.
How do Malawi and Zimbabwe rank globally for human development index?: Malawi ranks 36th and Zimbabwe ranks 38th of 50 countries.
Where does this data come from?: http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/data/, published as Human development index (HDI). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Malawi vs Zimbabwe: Human development index. Statizoid, drawing on http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/data/. Retrieved 24 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/human-development-index-hdi/malawi/zimbabwe/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/human-development-index-hdi/malawi/zimbabwe/">Malawi vs Zimbabwe: Human development index</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Human development index (HDI)
Unit: HDI
Source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/data/
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 50 places, 459 data points, 1980–2011
Last refreshed: 18 September 2026

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of human development. It measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. The HDI is the geometric mean of normalized indices measuring achievements in each dimension. The HDI is the geometric mean of the three dimension indices and embodies imperfect substitutability across all HDI dimensions. It thus addresses one of the most serious criticisms of the linear aggregation formula, which allowed for perfect substitution across dimensions. Some substitutability is inherent in the definition of any index that increases with the values of its components. Data sources: Life expectancy at birth: UNDESA; Mean years of schooling: Barro and Lee; Expected years of schooling: UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Gross national income (GNI) per capita: World Bank.