So, how exactly do you measure a country’s human development?

The way that Worldmapper does this is by multiplying the population of each territory in the world by the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Program.

The UN measures quality of life by combining measures of health, wealth and education in a territory.

The statistics available for 2004 would show an optimum score of 1000 where life expectancy was 85 or more years, adult literacy was 100%, school enrollment was 100% and the Gross Domestic Product is US$40 000 or more per person per year.

In 2004, Norway had the highest score (956) and Sierra Leone had the lowest score (273). The world average is 698.

Let’s see how other countries did that year:

The USA came 8th with a score of 939

Brazil – 775
Russia – 795
India – 595
China – 745

Mexico had a score of 802.

Interesting to see that, when it comes to Human Development, Mexico scored way above average and also above the BRIC countries who are making all the headlines these days.