Top 10 most developed African countries in 2024

What defines a nation’s success? Is it its wealth, infrastructure, or the well-being of its people? The Human Development Index (HDI), introduced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), offers a thoughtful perspective.

Back in 1990, the first Human Development Report declared, “People are the real wealth of a nation.” Decades later, that truth remains unchanged.

So, what exactly is the HDI? It’s a measure that combines three key aspects of human development: health, education, and standard of living. Think of it as a comprehensive snapshot of a country’s overall well-being.

It’s also used to rank nations as developed, developing, or underdeveloped and to assess how economic policies affect people’s quality of life. Countries fall into four HDI categories: very high, high, medium, and low human development.

In Africa, Seychelles stands out as the only country in the “very high” human development category.

On the other end of the spectrum, Somalia has the lowest HDI, not just in Africa but globally. The continent, like the rest of the world, faces significant challenges in ensuring progress that truly uplifts its people.

Rank	Country	HDI Score	Global Rank	Life Expectancy	Expected Years of Schooling	GNI per Capita
1	Seychelles	0.802	67th	71.7 years	13.9	$28,386
2	Mauritius	0.796	72nd	74.0 years	14.6	$23,252
3	Libya	0.746	92nd	72.2 years	14.0	$19,752
4	Algeria	0.745	93rd	77.1 years	15.5	$10,978
5	Tunisia	0.732	101st	74.3 years	14.6	$10,297
6	Egypt	0.728	105th	70.2 years	12.9	$12,361
7	South Africa	0.717	110th	61.5 years	14.3	$13,186
8	Botswana	0.708	114th	65.9 years	11.4	$14,842
9	Morocco	0.698	120th	75.0 years	14.6	$7,955
10	Gabon	0.693	123rd	65.7 years	12.4	$11,194

Over the years, global progress in human development has taken a hit. Violent conflicts are on the rise, with deaths and displacements reaching their worst levels since World War II. And let’s not forget the climate crisis, 2023 was officially the hottest year on record, capping off a decade of rising temperatures.

All this has derailed the trajectory of human development, putting it below pre-2019 levels and threatening to lock in permanent setbacks.