Japan ranked 11th in Human Development

Japan has dropped from ninth place to 11th place in the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI ranks 177 countries according to the health, education and living standards of the people who live there. The top ten countries in the list are mostly the rich northern and western European countries, with Australia and Canada in the top five and the USA in tenth place, just ahead of Japan.

The UN describe the Human Development Index as “a composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development — a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living.”

The latest Human development index trends table shows the values of the HDI for various countries over the last 30 years. Japan had been in ninth position for the last five years before dropping out of the top ten in this latest report. The Human Development Report Country Sheet for Japan has all the statistics on which Japan’s ranking is based.