Human development index in Malawi
Malawi: Human development index was 0.415 HDI in 2011. ▲ Rising
Human development index in Malawi, 1980–2011
Source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/data/. Measured in HDI.
Analysis
In 2011, human development index in Malawi stood at 0.415 HDI. That is the highest value across all 10 years on record.
The figure is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 17.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, human development index in Malawi peaked at 0.415 HDI in 2011 and was at its lowest, 0.272 HDI, in 1980.
That places Malawi 36th out of 50 countries with data for 2011, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 10 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.272 HDI | 0.272 HDI | 0.272 HDI | 1 |
| 1990s | 0.295 HDI | 0.295 HDI | 0.295 HDI | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.377 HDI | 0.352 HDI | 0.401 HDI | 6 |
| 2010s | 0.414 HDI | 0.413 HDI | 0.415 HDI | 2 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More reference data data for Malawi
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.0372 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.606 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.3659 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.9529 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies -0.5269 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 1,313 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is human development index in Malawi?
- Human development index in Malawi was 0.415 HDI in 2011, according to http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/data/.
- What is the highest human development index recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 0.415 HDI in 2011.
- What is the lowest human development index recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.272 HDI in 1980.
- How does Malawi rank for human development index?
- Malawi ranks 36th out of 50 countries with data for 2011.
- Is human development index rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/data/, published as part of Human development index (HDI). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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.