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Data Starter: UN HDI index 2025

Elizabeth Veal

20th January 2026

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Where are the world’s most developed economies as measured by the HDI in 2025?

Using this data Panda map and table (https://www.datapandas.org/ranking/hdi-by-country), answer these calculation questions:

  1. Find the country in each continent (N. America, S. America, Europe, Asia, Africa & Oceania) where the HDI is the highest for its continent and draw up a table from highest to lowest.
  2. How many countries in the top 40 for the 2025 HDI were not in Europe?

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Elizabeth Veal

Liz has taught Economics for over 25 years, including several years as Head of Economics at leading schools.