Human development index in South Africa
South Africa: Human development index was 0.625 HDI in 2011. ▲ Rising
Human development index in South Africa, 1980–2011
Source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/data/. Measured in HDI.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 0.625 HDI for human development index in 2011. That is the highest value across all 10 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.6% on the previous year and up 0.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, human development index in South Africa peaked at 0.625 HDI in 2011 and was at its lowest, 0.57 HDI, in 1980.
That places South Africa 9th out of 50 countries with data for 2011, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 10 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.57 HDI | 0.57 HDI | 0.57 HDI | 1 |
| 1990s | 0.621 HDI | 0.621 HDI | 0.621 HDI | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.6117 HDI | 0.604 HDI | 0.622 HDI | 6 |
| 2010s | 0.623 HDI | 0.621 HDI | 0.625 HDI | 2 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More reference data data for South Africa
- Spring temperature anomalies 0.191 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 1.36 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.6318 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 1.18 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.2153 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 209.92 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 South Africa?
- Human development index in South Africa was 0.625 HDI in 2011, according to http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/data/.
- What is the highest human development index recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.625 HDI in 2011.
- What is the lowest human development index recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.57 HDI in 1980.
- How does South Africa rank for human development index?
- South Africa ranks 9th out of 50 countries with data for 2011.
- Is human development index rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa 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.