Using HDI in AP Human Geography
Kevin Turner
Spanish River Community HS
Boca Raton, FL
What Should AP HG Students Know About HDI?
• Human Development Index (HDI) summarily measures
average achievement in key dimensions of human
development: a long and healthy life, being
knowledgeable and have a decent standard of living
• HDI was created to emphasize that people and their
capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing
development, not economic growth alone
• HDI can also be used to question national policy
choices, asking how two countries with the same level
of GNI per capita can end up with different human
development outcomes
• HDI does not reflect on inequalities, poverty, human
security, empowerment, etc. (GDI? GEM? Gini?)
Key Questions from Rags and Riches
• 3.1 Why do Cuba, Poland and Moldova rank higher
on the human welfare than the economic dimension
of development?
• 3.2 Why do Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates
rank higher on the economic than the social welfare
dimension of development?
• 3.3 What are the long-term ramifications of
investing heavily in economic production at the
expense of human welfare investment?
• 3.3 What are the long-term ramifications of
investing heavily in human welfare at the expense of
economic production?
Multidimensional Poverty Index