According to the latest Human Development Report, recently released by the United Nations’ Development Programme (UNDP), the state of human development in most parts of the world is poor and worsening. Pakistan ranks 168th out of 193 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI). A detailed analysis shows that the country attained an HDI score of 0.544 out of 1.00. This means that Pakistan is in the bottom-most category, with Afghanistan being the only other South Asian nation placed in this category.
The HDI measures a country’s achievements in three basic areas of human development: health, education and standard of living. The HDI sets a minimum and a maximum for each dimension, called “goalposts”, then shows where each country stands in relation to these goalposts. This is expressed as a value between 0 and 1. The higher a country’s human development, the higher its HDI value. The HDI is used to capture the attention of policy-makers, the media and non-governmental organizations, and to change the focus from the usual economic metrics to human-centred outcomes. HDI emphasizes that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development process in a society.
In the latest HDI Iceland has replaced Norway at the top of the list. Norway comes second, with Switzerland third and Denmark fourth. Sweden shares the fifth place with Germany and Finland is number thirteen. The other Nordic countries are all high on the list. Australia, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Belgium are number seven to ten on the list. The UK shares number 13 with Finland, the USA is number 17 and France 26. The countries with least human development are, according to the index, the Central African Republic, Somalia and South Sudan.
Unfortunately, Pakistan’s overall HDI score has been stagnating over the last two years. Pakistan was ranked 161st in 2022 and 164th last year, which means that its ranking has dropped four places over the period. The core indicators paint a dismal picture: life expectancy is 67.6 years; expected years of schooling are just 7.9; mean years of schooling are a mere 4.3; Gross National Income per capita stands at $5,501; the inequality-adjusted HDI drops further to 0.392; and the Gender Inequality Index is at a low 0.536. These statistics point to the long-standing trend of underinvestment in key sectors such as education and health, persistent income inequality, and deep-rooted structural economic weakness. Pakistan fares poorly even within its own region. Among South Asian peers—India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka—Pakistan consistently ranks lowest across nearly every human development metric, from income and life expectancy to gender equity and educational attainment. The country is also reportedly ranked among the bottom 12 per cent when it comes to mobile and broadband internet speeds.
The UNDP lists rising trade imbalance and a worsening debt crisis among the major challenges facing ‘low’ HDI category nations. In the opinion of UNDP, the aggressive and short-sighted trade policies and aid cuts by the US and other Western nations will further damage the Global South. On the other hand, institutions like the IMF have burdened developing nations with massive debts, curtailing their ability to invest in human development sectors.
According to UNDP, the gap between ‘low’ and ‘very high’ HDI countries continues to increase, an indicator of rising global inequality. While the report emphasises the potential for the rise of AI and a human-centric AI approach to reaccelerate development and close development gaps, it notes that the growing importance of AI makes closing electricity and internet gaps more urgent than ever, so no one is excluded from emerging possibilities. AI requires massive amounts of electricity and water to move forward. But, sadly, Pakistan is currently short of both basic needs.
The 2025 Human Development Report is a clarion call to Pakistan’s policy makers who seem to be caught up in time warp. Countries that have achieved high levels of human development have done so through massive investment in the education and healthcare of their citizens. As is well-known, Sri Lanka, despite its economic difficulties, has ensured near-universal access to education and healthcare. Vietnam has employed digital tools to expand public services and empower marginalized populations. These examples show the power of well thought out, people-focused policy decisions in driving transformative development.
Pakistan needs to learn from the experience of other countries. It is time we transited from an elite-dominated system to a new national development paradigm that is people-centred. This can be achieved through channelling investments into education and healthcare to promote inclusive growth. Pakistan must also tackle the challenge of rising inequality through necessary tax reforms that ensure more equitable income and wealth distribution and equitable access to services. This requires institutional capacity building, better governance, digital innovation, and quick service delivery.