How is the HDI used?
1. To capture the attention of policy makers, media and NGOs and to draw their attention away from the more usual economic statistics to focus instead on human outcomes. The HDI was created to re-emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth. 2. To question national policy choices – asking how two countries with the same level of income per person can end up with such different human development outcomes (HDI levels). For example, Costa Rica and Iran have similar levels of income per person, but life expectancy and literacy differ greatly between the two countries, with Costa Rica having a much higher HDI value than Iran. These striking contrasts immediately stimulate debate on government policies on health and education, asking why what is achieved in one country is far from the reach of another. 3. To highlight wide differences within countries, between provinces or states, across gender, e
