Note that if you are looking for current top 20, you bias your findings towards winners.
Not that it matters a whole lot in this case, but it’s a general word of caution for that type of stat.
Also, it looks like HDI is bounded at 1? Is that the case?
Can we see the biggest difference in a list? Maybe grouped by the income/development level so it makes more sense?
Congratulations to China for reversing its fortunes so quickly! By the way, these numbers are based on the year 2022. China has almost certainly already crossed into the “Very High Human Development” category, above .800.
Shit idk about this, America has a higher standard of living than Japan?!? Really?!? Doubt it
Having spent time in China, it’s hard to comprehend how quickly the quality of life has improved for so many people. We’re talking subsistence farming to western middle class in a generation for millions of people. That’s why the are so tolerant of Xi Jinping. Their lives are much better under his government than they were for generations before.
How reliable is HDI as a metric? It feels like it’s a bit like GDP where its utility can be fairly limited. I ask because Germany does certainly not feel (to this extent and compared to neighbours) like education has improved, or the public sector, or purchasing power for normal people – maybe for the capital owner class?
Interesting chart, curious order. Since it purports to measure change, rather than overall score, shouldn’t the countries with the biggest changes be up top?
![[OC] Change in Human Development for the top 20 biggest economies](https://www.europesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/cns6xfu9y9vf1-1240x1024.png)
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Source: [Human Development Report 2025](https://hdr.undp.org/content/human-development-report-2025)
Tools: [Datawrapper ](https://www.datawrapper.de/)
Note that if you are looking for current top 20, you bias your findings towards winners.
Not that it matters a whole lot in this case, but it’s a general word of caution for that type of stat.
Also, it looks like HDI is bounded at 1? Is that the case?
Can we see the biggest difference in a list? Maybe grouped by the income/development level so it makes more sense?
Congratulations to China for reversing its fortunes so quickly! By the way, these numbers are based on the year 2022. China has almost certainly already crossed into the “Very High Human Development” category, above .800.
Shit idk about this, America has a higher standard of living than Japan?!? Really?!? Doubt it
Having spent time in China, it’s hard to comprehend how quickly the quality of life has improved for so many people. We’re talking subsistence farming to western middle class in a generation for millions of people. That’s why the are so tolerant of Xi Jinping. Their lives are much better under his government than they were for generations before.
How reliable is HDI as a metric? It feels like it’s a bit like GDP where its utility can be fairly limited. I ask because Germany does certainly not feel (to this extent and compared to neighbours) like education has improved, or the public sector, or purchasing power for normal people – maybe for the capital owner class?
Interesting chart, curious order. Since it purports to measure change, rather than overall score, shouldn’t the countries with the biggest changes be up top?
Saudi Arabia being that high is surprising
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