The Human Development Index - going beyond income

Each year since 1990 the Human Development Report has published the Human Development Index (HDI) which was introduced as an alternative to conventional measures of national development, such as level of income and the rate of economic growth. The HDI represents a push for a broader definition of well-being and provides a composite measure of three basic dimensions of human development: health, education and income. Between 1980 and 2012 Korea (Republic of)'s HDI rose by 1.6% annually from 0.640 to 0.909 today, which gives the country a rank of 12 out of 187 countries with comparable data. The HDI of OECD as a region increased from 0.756 in 1980 to 0.888 today, placing Korea (Republic of) above the regional average. The HDI trends tell an important story both at the national and regional level and highlight the very large gaps in well-being and life chances that continue to divide our interconnected world.