Iceland Leads Both Development Indexes

Based on 2023 data, Iceland ranked first in the Human Development Index and the inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, according to the UNDP’s 2025 Human Development Report. Its standard HDI was 0.972, while its score fell by only 5 percent to 0.923 after accounting for inequality in health, education, and income. Iceland therefore led the world not only in average human development but also after those achievements were adjusted for how evenly they were distributed.

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