Human Development & Quality of Life in Timor Leste
HDI 0.634 · UNDP rank 142 · latest published data
The headline development measure for Timor Leste is HDI 0.634 in 2023, corresponding to UNDP rank 142 and the medium human development band. Two details sharpen that picture. The income component uses GNI per capita of $5,435 in 2021 PPP dollars. Education combines 13.3 expected years of schooling with 6.2 mean years already attained.
What sits inside Timor Leste's HDI
In the figures presented here, Timor Leste's 2023 HDI inputs include life expectancy of 67.7, expected schooling of 13.3, mean schooling of 6.2, and GNI per capita of $5,435 in 2021 PPP dollars. Together they explain the headline index without turning any single input into a separate ranking.
Inequality changes the headline
In this country profile, IHDI is the HDI after allowing for unequal distribution of achievement, for Timor Leste, it remains an objective development measure rather than a subjective well-being indicator.
Gender and planetary-pressure adjustments
For Timor Leste, the available complementary indices are GDI 0.939, GII 0.394. These measures answer different questions, so they are kept separate.
Quality-of-life coverage is conditional
A comparable life-satisfaction observation was not available in the OECD extract used for Timor Leste. Missing source coverage is shown as a limitation, not filled with an estimate.
What Timor Leste's numbers say together
Timor Leste's additional indicators read as IHDI 0.451 with a 28.9% loss; GDI 0.939. Reading them together is useful, but combining them would obscure their different definitions.
HDI for Timor Leste stands at 0.634 in 2023, with UNDP rank 142. It is a development benchmark based on three dimensions, not an all-purpose national score. When looking across the UNDP tables, avoid turning the indicator into a general country score because a composite score cannot explain every outcome on its own.
The IHDI is 0.451, and UNDP reports an overall loss of 28.9% relative to the headline index.
The GDI value is 0.939 in group 3; it should be read alongside, not merged into, HDI.
Frequently asked questions
What is Timor Leste's HDI?
In the Human Development Report 2025, Timor Leste is listed at HDI 0.634 for 2023, rank 142.
How does inequality affect Timor Leste's HDI?
UNDP reports IHDI 0.451 for Timor Leste, which is 28.9% below the headline HDI after inequality across the three dimensions is taken into account. For a like-for-like reading, preserve the distinction between level and distribution so the source year is not silently treated as the publication year.
Why is there no life satisfaction score on this page?
A quality-of-life indicator is included for Timor Leste only when a dated comparable value is supported by the cited dataset. The absence of a published observation is preserved explicitly.
Is HDI the same as quality of life?
No. UNDP's HDI focuses on longevity, education and income. Subjective well-being is kept outside the HDI calculation. For the profile as a whole, do not infer an unstated comparison so the limitation remains visible to the reader.
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.