Human Development & Quality of Life in Iran
HDI 0.799 · UNDP rank 75 · latest published data
For 2023, Iran records HDI 0.799 and UNDP rank 75; that headline belongs to the high human development category. The aggregate hides useful detail: The health component is anchored by life expectancy of 77.7 years. The profile also records that the GDI of 0.875 (group 5) shows a pronounced female-male development gap within the UNDP framework.
What sits inside Iran's HDI
For Iran, health contributes through life expectancy of 77.7; education through 14.0 expected and 10.8 mean years of schooling; and income through GNI per capita of $16,096 in 2021 PPP dollars. Those are the published inputs behind the 2023 HDI.
Inequality changes the headline
For the current profile, IHDI is the HDI after allowing for unequal distribution of achievement, for Iran, it remains an objective development measure rather than a subjective well-being indicator.
Gender and planetary-pressure adjustments
Alongside the headline HDI, the published data for Iran include GDI 0.875, GII 0.482, PHDI 0.725. The indicators add context without becoming a single composite DigifyWorld rating.
Quality-of-life coverage is conditional
A comparable life-satisfaction observation was not available in the OECD extract used for Iran. The profile does not turn an absent source observation into a calculated replacement.
What Iran's numbers say together
Within the UNDP framework, the complementary evidence for Iran includes IHDI 0.643 with a 19.5% loss; PHDI 0.725 after a 9.3% adjustment; GDI 0.875. These measures answer different questions, so they are kept separate.
UNDP reports a 2023 HDI of 0.799 for Iran, with rank 75. That headline measure is useful for development comparison, but it is not a complete quality-of-life score.
The IHDI is 0.643, and UNDP reports an overall loss of 19.5% relative to the headline index.
The GDI value is 0.875 in group 5; it should be read alongside, not merged into, HDI.
The PHDI is 0.725, with a 9.3% adjustment from the HDI value in UNDP's 2023 table.
Frequently asked questions
What is Iran's HDI?
In the Human Development Report 2025, Iran is listed at HDI 0.799 for 2023, rank 75.
How does inequality affect Iran's HDI?
Iran's Inequality-adjusted HDI is 0.643. The published overall loss is 19.5% relative to HDI.
Why is there no life satisfaction score on this page?
In this country profile, a subjective well-being figure for Iran is published only when the source supplies a usable observation. The profile does not turn an absent source observation into a calculated replacement.
Is HDI the same as quality of life?
No. HDI has three core dimensions: health, knowledge and standard of living. Subjective well-being is kept outside the HDI calculation. For the profile as a whole, use the UNDP definition rather than a proxy because the evidence is strongest when each metric keeps its own scope.
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.