Human Development & Quality of Life in Barbados
Human Development
Barbados's 2023 HDI is 0.811, placing it 69 in UNDP's table and in the very high human development category. More revealing for this profile, the inequality adjustment is one of the most consequential parts of this profile: IHDI falls to 0.620, a 23.6% loss. At the same time, the income component uses GNI per capita of $17,328 in 2021 PPP dollars.
What sits inside Barbados's HDI
The 2023 HDI profile for Barbados rests on life expectancy of 76.2, schooling measures of 16.6 expected years and 9.9 mean years, plus GNI per capita of $17,328 in 2021 PPP dollars. The page keeps those components visible so the composite index is not read in isolation.
Inequality changes the headline
Barbados's IHDI adjusts the headline index for inequality in health, education and income outcomes. It describes distribution, so it is not used here as a quality-of-life rating. For the profile as a whole, use the UNDP definition rather than a proxy so the comparison remains traceable.
Gender and planetary-pressure adjustments
In the UNDP data used here, Barbados has additional UNDP measures of GDI 1.035, GII 0.297. They are related indicators, but they should not be combined into one country score.
Quality-of-life coverage is conditional
A comparable life-satisfaction observation was not available in the OECD extract used for Barbados. The absence of a published observation is preserved explicitly.
What Barbados's numbers say together
Barbados's non-headline measures include IHDI 0.620 with a 23.6% loss; GDI 1.035. They complement one another, but none is treated as a substitute for another.
In the figures presented here, the headline UNDP result for Barbados is HDI 0.811, rank 69, for 2023. Broader quality-of-life indicators remain outside that index.
The IHDI is 0.620, and UNDP reports an overall loss of 23.6% relative to the headline index.
The GDI value is 1.035 in group 2; it should be read alongside, not merged into, HDI.
Frequently asked questions
What is Barbados's HDI?
UNDP's Human Development Report 2025 gives Barbados an HDI of 0.811 for 2023 and rank 69.
How does inequality affect Barbados's HDI?
For Barbados, IHDI is 0.620 and the associated inequality loss is 23.6%. This adjustment concerns the distribution of HDI achievements.
Why is there no life satisfaction score on this page?
Quality-of-life data for Barbados appear only when the page can tie the value to a comparable source and year. A missing source value is shown as unavailable.
Is HDI the same as quality of life?
No. HDI is an objective development index based on health, education and income. Life satisfaction remains distinct from the health, education and income dimensions used by HDI.
Sources & methodology
Sources for the development indicators and definitions shown above.
View sources used for this page
Primary source for 2023 HDI and its components, plus IHDI, GDI, GII and PHDI where reported.
Report edition underlying the 2023 human-development indices and ranking.
Data note: Reference years are shown with each indicator; unavailable observations remain unfilled.