In measuring human development, one of the most common measures is the Human Development Index (HDI) used by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). It includes three dimensions – health, education, and standard of living, going beyond economic growth as a measure of a country’s development.

 

 

Based on the HDI, Malawi has a score of 0.485 (2018) which corresponds to low human development. It is ranked 172 out of the 189 countries and territories which HDI is computed for. Considering inequality within the country, the HDI score drops even further to 0.346. Despite having lots of natural resources which puts the country at an advantage for development, Malawi is one of the poorest and underdeveloped countries in the world.