Human Development & Quality of Life in Guinea Bissau
Human Development
UNDP places Guinea Bissau at rank 174 with a 2023 HDI of 0.514, a low human development result. Two details sharpen that picture. The GDI of 0.878 (group 5) shows a pronounced female-male development gap within the UNDP framework. The GII reading of 0.632 (rank 166) is an important counterpoint to the aggregate HDI.
What sits inside Guinea Bissau's HDI
On this page, the UNDP inputs behind Guinea Bissau's HDI are 64.1 for life expectancy, 10.6 for expected years of schooling, 3.7 for mean years of schooling and $2,403 GNI per capita in 2021 PPP dollars. These figures show what sits behind the composite score.
Inequality changes the headline
In Guinea Bissau's profile, IHDI shows the effect of inequality on health, education and income achievements. The page keeps this distribution measure distinct from broader quality-of-life evidence. For a like-for-like reading, preserve the source's country coverage so the limitation remains visible to the reader.
Gender and planetary-pressure adjustments
On this page, Guinea Bissau has additional UNDP measures of GDI 0.878, GII 0.632. These measures remain distinct because they measure different aspects of development.
Quality-of-life coverage is conditional
No comparable OECD life-satisfaction observation is published on this page for Guinea Bissau. The profile does not turn an absent source observation into a calculated replacement.
What Guinea Bissau's numbers say together
Looking at the published indicators, the complementary evidence for Guinea Bissau includes IHDI 0.331 with a 35.6% loss; GDI 0.878. These measures answer different questions, so they are kept separate.
At 0.514, Guinea Bissau's 2023 HDI corresponds to UNDP rank 174. The ranking reflects the HDI framework only and does not capture every aspect of lived experience.
The IHDI is 0.331, and UNDP reports an overall loss of 35.6% relative to the headline index.
The GDI value is 0.878 in group 5; it should be read alongside, not merged into, HDI.
Frequently asked questions
What is Guinea Bissau's HDI?
UNDP's Human Development Report 2025 gives Guinea Bissau an HDI of 0.514 for 2023 and rank 174.
How does inequality affect Guinea Bissau's HDI?
After the inequality adjustment, Guinea Bissau's index falls to 0.331; UNDP quantifies the overall loss at 35.6%. For the evidence on this page, treat the value as the published measure so the source year is not silently treated as the publication year.
Why is there no life satisfaction score on this page?
For Guinea Bissau, subjective well-being is shown only with a verified comparable observation. No value is inferred when the underlying source does not publish one. When looking across the UNDP tables, keep unlike indices separate before using the result as a shorthand for lived experience.
Is HDI the same as quality of life?
No. The HDI calculation does not include every aspect of quality of life. A life-satisfaction result is not an input to HDI and remains a separate quality-of-life signal. For the profile as a whole, avoid blending different source vintages because the surrounding measures answer different questions.
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.