Pakistan has fallen seven places in the Human Development Index (HDI) during 2021 and is now placed at 161 out of 191 countries around the globe.
According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report, Pakistan’s HDI value is only 0.544, which puts it in the low human development category among the worst 30 countries of the world.
As per the report, Pakistan’s life expectancy at birth is 66.1 years, and schooling’s expected years are eight. Meanwhile, the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita is $4,624.
The report cited Pakistan’s disastrous floods saying that climatic shocks are affecting global order, resulting in the reversal of recently attained development. Note here that only Pakistan and Afghanistan are classified as having low human development among all South Asian countries.
As far as the top countries are concerned, Switzerland sits at the top of the ranking, while Norway and Iceland are ranked second and third, respectively.
Here are the top ten countries in HDI 2021.
| HDI 2021 Rank | Country | HDI 2021 Value |
| 1 | Switzerland | 0.962 |
| 2 | Norway | 0.961 |
| 3 | Iceland | 0.959 |
| 4 | Hong Kong, China | 0.952 |
| 5 | Australia | 0.951 |
| 6 | Denmark | 0.948 |
| 7 | Sweden | 0.947 |
| 8 | Ireland | 0.945 |
| 9 | Germany | 0.942 |
| 10 | Netherlands | 0.941 |
Here are the bottom ten countries in HDI 2021.
| HDI 2021 Rank | Country | HDI 2021 Value |
| 182 | Guinea | 0.465 |
| 183 | Yemen | 0.455 |
| 184 | Burkina Faso | 0.449 |
| 185 | Mozambique | 0.446 |
| 186 | Mali | 0.428 |
| 187 | Burundi | 0.426 |
| 188 | Central African Republic | 0.404 |
| 189 | Niger | 0.400 |
| 190 | Chad | 0.394 |
| 191 | South Sudan | 0.385 |