Readers guide The 17 statistical tables of this annex provide an overview of key aspects of human development. The first six tables contain the family of composite human development indices and their components estimated by the Human Development Report Office (HDRO). The remaining tables present a broader set of indicators related to human development. Unless otherwise specified in the notes, tables use data available to the HDRO as of 15 November 2013. All indices and indicators, along with technical notes on the calculation of composite indices and additional source information, are available online at http://hdr.undp.org/en/data. Countries and territories are ranked by 2013 Human Development Index (HDI) value. Robustness and reliability analysis has shown that for most countries the differences in HDI are not statistically significant at the fourth decimal place.1 For this reason countries with the same HDI value at three decimal places are listed with tied ranks.
Sources and definitions Unless otherwise noted, the HDRO uses data from international data agencies with the mandate, resources and expertise to collect national data on specific indicators. Definitions of indicators and sources for original data components are given at the end of each table, with full source details in Statistical references.
Gross national income per capita in purchasing power parity terms In comparing standards of living based on income across countries, the income component of the HDI uses gross national income (GNI) per capita converted into purchasing power parity (PPP) terms to eliminate differences in national price levels. The International Comparison Programme (ICP) survey is the world’s largest statistical initiative that produces internationally comparable price levels, economic aggregates in real terms and PPP estimates. Estimates from ICP surveys conducted in 2011 and covering 180 countries became publicly available on 7 May 2014 and were used to compute the 2013 HDI values.
Methodology updates Over the past three years the HDRO has held intensive consultations with leading academic experts and policymakers to discuss approaches to development measurement, including the Report’s family of composite indices. A key point of agreement among participants in these discussions was that the composite indices must be clearly and intuitively understandable to policymakers, media, civil society leaders and other audiences so that the indices will continue to be used for human development policy guidance and advocacy. A formal policy on future modifications of human development indices is being elaborated. And the HDRO website (http://hdr. undp.org/en) provides access for the first time to the proprietary software programs used to calculate the indices in this Report. The 2014 Report retains the HDI, the Multidimensional Poverty index (MPI), the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) and the Gender Inequality Index (GII), with slight modifications to the HDI and MPI. The HDI now includes fixed maximum goalposts that we hope to maintain for at least five years. For details on the HDI goalposts, see Technical note 1 at http://hdr.undp.org. For details on updates to the MPI, see Technical note 5 at http://hdr.undp.org.
Comparisons over time and across editions of the Report Because national and international agencies continually improve their data series, the data—including the HDI values and ranks—presented in this Report are not comparable to those published in earlier editions. For HDI comparability across years and countries, see table 2, which presents trends using consistent data calculated at five-year intervals for 1980–2013.
Discrepancies between national and international estimates National and international data can differ because international agencies harmonize national data using a consistent methodology and occasionally produce estimates of missing data to allow comparability across countries. In other cases international agencies might not have access to the most recent national data.
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