173 Human Development
Definition
The Human Development Index is an attempt to measure of the quality of life of populations using the statistics available. It creates a score for each territory, based on their performance against four theoretical ideals. The ideal levels are: life expectancy of 85 years or more; 100% adult literacy; 100% school enrolment; and a Gross Domestic Product per person of $40000. That scores 1000. Life expectancy of 25 years or less; 0% adult literacy; 0% school enrolment; and a Gross Domestic Product per person of US$8840 per person or less adjusted for purchasing power parity; would score zero. The actual range is scores given is from 273 for Sierra Leone to 956 for Norway. The mean figure for all territories in 2002 was 700.
If we were to map any of the individual factors, we would take the score and multiply it by the relevant population to give a figure for the territory, and then size the territory in proportion to that figure. Here we take the Human Development Index, divided by 1000, multiplied by the total population, as the index aims to give a score for the total population. The theoretical maximum for any territory is therefore its total population. The world mean is 70% of its of its total population, and the worst actual case is 27% of its population. This is quite an abstract quantity, but it does allow the index to be expressed as a scalar measure – which can then be mapped.
Data sources
The source of this data is the United Nations Development Programme’s 2004 Human Development Report, Table 2. The Human Development Index in territories without records were assumed to be the averages for the regions in which they are located. This results in a slight overestimation of development worldwide, given some of the reasons (war, abject poverty) for some populous territories not having an Human Development Index calculated for their peoples. World Bank data for the years 2001-2004 (where available) was used to estimate the Human Development Indices for Afghanistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iraq and Somalia.
Click here to view detailed data source references
The quote is from Alan Rusbridger, then editor of The Guardian (a newspaper published in Britain), from a Leader article written in July 2004 “Where life is worth living.” It was accessed in July 2006, at which point it was available on the website below:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,,1262606,00.html
Excel sheets
Below is an explanation of each of the columns in the excel file:
Column A = Unique numerical territory (see 001).
Column B = Region and territory names (see 001).
Column C = Region code (see 001).
Column D = The ISO 3 code, or ISO ALPHA-3 (see 001).
Column E = Human Development Index of total population. This is calculated by multiplying the derived Human Development Index (Column F) by the population in millions in 2002 (Column G), divided by 1000. (E = F * G / 1000).
Column F = Derived Human Development Index in 2002, scaled 0-1000, theoretical optimum being 1000. This is obtained from the source data. When data was missing a regional average was usually assumed. However, World Bank data for years 2001-2004 (where available) was used to estimate the Human Development Indices for Afghanistan , the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , Iraq and Somalia .
Column G = Population in millions, 2002. See technical notes 002, Total Population.