Kyiv, 13 March 2024 — Ukraine's Human Development Index (HDI) value is 0.734, making it a country in a high level of human development and positioning it at 100 out of 193 countries and territories. 

At the same time, the impact of human development losses is in sharp focus in Ukraine, as its HDI has dropped to the lowest level since 2004. That is according to the new Human Development Report “Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world,” which was launched today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The HDI is a summary measure for assessing average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living. Between 1990 and 2022, Ukraine's HDI value rose from 0.731 to 0.734, a change of 0.4%.

UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine Jaco Cilliers warned that while development in Ukraine had proved resilient in the face of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and full-scale war, challenges for Ukraine lay ahead.

“We still don’t know the full impact of the invasion on Ukraine, due to the difficulty of collecting data, particularly in occupied areas,” Cilliers said. “But the overall picture is a challenging one for Ukraine, and action and support will be required to mitigate adverse effects and keep Ukraine on the path to sustainable development.”

The current HDI data mostly reflects the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Ukraine’s human development, as access to more recent national data remains limited. 

As for the Gender Inequality index (GII), Ukraine has a value of 0.188, ranking it

48th out of 166 countries. This index measures gender inequalities in three key dimensions – reproductive health, empowerment, and the labour market. In Ukraine, the female HDI value is 0.741, in contrast with 0.726 for males, resulting in a Gender Development Index (GDI) value of 1.021 (female HDI divided by male HDI). This index measures gender gaps in achievements in three basic dimensions of human development: health, knowledge and living standards, measured by female and male estimated GNI per capita. In Ukraine, GNI per capita changed by about -32.1% between 1990 and 2022.

When adjusted, Ukraine has an Inequality-Adjusted HDI of 0.676, with a “loss” of development due to inequality of 7.9 percent. This index adjusts the HDI for inequality in the distribution of each dimension across the population. As inequality in a country increase, the loss in human development also increases.

The new UNDP report states that worldwide, uneven development progress is leaving the poorest behind, exacerbating inequality and stoking political polarization on a global scale. The result is a dangerous gridlock that must be urgently tackled through collective action. 

The Human Development Report presents ways forward that hinge on reimagining cooperation in ways that do not assume away divergent interests or opinions, but work with them to deliver global public goods – where we all stand to benefit. 

To scale up collective action, the report suggests work in three areas: 

• Narrow agency gaps: The role of agency – the ability of people to determine their own future – in development has been somewhat neglected and warrants closer attention by the development community. 
• Dial back the temperature to push back polarization: Overcoming political polarization, populism and mistrust are key to breaking the development deadlock and tackling inequality and challenges to human development. 
• Build a 21st-century architecture for global public goods, to complement the two existing tracks of international cooperation based on humanitarian assistance and development assistance to low-income countries. The report proposes a third track of international cooperation to support the financing of global public goods. 

To view the full report, visit https://hdr.undp.org/content/human-development-report-2023-24 

For media inquiries, please contact:

Stanislav Saling | Human Development Report Office Communications Specialist | Mobile: +1 347 653 1980 | Email: stanislav.saling@undp.org 

Victor Garrido Delgado | UNDP Media Specialist | Mobile: +1 917 995 1687 | Email: victor.garrido.delgado@undp.org  

Sarah Bel | UNDP Geneva Representation Office | Mobile: +41 79 934 11 17 | Email: sarah.bel@undp.org