The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) released its annual Human Development Report on May 6, 2025, revealing a significant update to the Human Development Index (HDI) for 193 countries. Brazil has made notable strides, climbing five spots to rank 84th globally, with an HDI score of 0.786, indicating a highly developed status.
This marks a 0.77 percent increase from the previous year's adjusted score of 0.780, demonstrating consistent progress in human development indicators such as life expectancy, education, and per capita GDP. Over the past decade, Brazil's HDI has shown an average annual increase of 0.38 percent, and since 1990, the growth rate stands at 0.62 percent.
Chile leads Latin America and the Caribbean at 45th place with an HDI of 0.878. Along with Brazil, nine other nations from the region are categorized as having very high human development, including Argentina, Uruguay, and Costa Rica. The overall average HDI for Latin America and the Caribbean rose from 0.778 in 2022 to 0.783 in 2023, reflecting a 0.64 percent increase.
Globally, the average HDI reached 0.756 in 2023, which is a 0.53 percent rise from the previous year’s score of 0.752. Despite this progress, the report highlights concerning trends. Pedro Conceição, the report’s coordinator, pointed out that while the HDI has reached its highest level since the survey began, the rate of improvement is the slowest recorded, excluding the decline during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conceição warned, “If we continued to have the progress we had before 2020, we would be living in a very high development index in 2030. But the trend now is that progress has flattened out a bit, and this milestone of living on a very high human development index has been postponed for decades.” He also noted that countries with low HDI have consistently fallen behind for the fourth consecutive year, breaking a long-standing trend of convergence among nations.
The HDI report underlines a widening gap between countries with low and very high human development. Achim Steiner, the UNDP Administrator, emphasized the unexpected slowdown in global human development progress, stating, “For decades, we have been on track to reach a very high human development world by 2030, but this deceleration signals a very real threat to global progress.”
While Brazil’s improvement is commendable, it reflects a broader trend within the region and the world. The United Arab Emirates ranks 15th globally, with a score of 0.940, marking a 0.019 percent improvement from the previous year. Other notable Arab nations include Saudi Arabia at 37th place with a score of 0.900 and Bahrain closely following at 38th place with a score of 0.899.
This year’s HDI report serves as both a celebration of achievements and a call to action. As countries strive to improve their human development indicators, the findings remind policymakers of the importance of addressing disparities and ensuring that progress is equitable and sustainable. The data reflects not only the achievements of nations like Brazil but also the challenges that lie ahead in the pursuit of human development.
In summary, Brazil's rise in the HDI rankings illustrates a positive trajectory in human development, yet it also highlights the need for continued efforts to bridge the gap between nations at different stages of development. As the world faces unprecedented challenges, the emphasis on sustainable and inclusive growth becomes ever more critical.
