what does hdi measure

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical tool used to measure a countrys overall achievement in its social and economic dimensions. It is a summary composite measure of a countrys average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: health, knowledge, and standard of living. The HDI is a summary measurement of basic achievement levels in human development, and it uses components such as average annual income and educational expectations to rank and compare countries. The HDI is calculated based on four key indicators: life expectancy at birth, expected years of schooling, mean years of schooling, and gross national income per capita. 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, and the higher a countrys 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 statistics to human outcomes. It was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.