News Archive

SHDI Database 5.0 released

8 June 2021

SHDI Version 5.0. Update of all indices and underlying indicators to 2019. The subnational versions of the Human Development Index and the Gender Development Index are now combined into one integrated Human Development dataset. National values of the indices and indicators are equal to those in the latest version of the UNDP Human Development Index Database and the Human Development Report 2020. The number of countries for which subnational data is available is increased to 163 and the number of subnational regions to 1783. Data for Kiribati, Tonga and St. Lucia have been added. Earlier versions of the database can be downloaded from the SHDI Download page.


Area Database 4.0 released

15 February 2021
Version 4.0 of our Area Database released. Data added for 27 countries, including two new countries (Kiribati and Tonga).

Introducing Global Data Lab user accounts

13 December 2020
Today we have introduced a system of Global Data Lab user accounts. This will increase our understanding of who the -- over 100,000 -- yearly visitors of our website are and for what purposes our indicators and instruments are used. For downloading data and indicator reports, users are requested to log into our database through their user account. To register a user account please visit the Registration Page.

Subnational version of the Gender Development Index

1 November 2020
Our Human Development Index database has now been updated with a subnational version of the UNDP's Gender Development Index . The new index is available here. You find a blog about the new index at the UNDP website.

African Studies Centre releases Thematic Map on the SHDI

8 October 2020
Today a beautiful Thematic Map on our Subnational Human Development Index (SHDI) was released by the African Studies Centre. The map is available here.

SHDI Database 4.0 released

24 February 2020
Subnational Human Development Index (SHDI) Database version 4.0 released. All indices and indicators now running from 1990 to 2018. National values are equal to HDI values of Human Development Report 2019.

National Geographic presents SHDI map

25 September 2019
A map of our Subnational Human Development Index (SHDI) is presented in the new National Geographic Atlas of the World.

SHDI Database 3.0 released

14 September 2019
Subnational Human Development Index (SHDI) Database version 3.0 released. New data added for Albania, Benin, Congo Brazzaville, Jordan, Ghana, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Lao, Maldives, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uganda and Tunisia. Number of subnational regions extended to 1730 by adding regions for Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Congo Brazzaville, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

Area Database 3.6.0 released

8 September 2019
GDL Area Database 3.6.0 released. New data added for Benin, Jordan, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Uganda and Tunisia. Number of subnational regions extended to 1337 by increasing regional subdivision for Albania, Bangladesh, Congo Brazzaville, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

SHDI at the Development Data Group Learning Series

16 May 2019

Do you use subnational data for research or operations? Do you have trouble finding, managing or curating subnational datasets? Have you ever used the Development Data Hub (DDH)?

RSVP and add to Calendar

Come learn about how subnational data are collected, managed, and constructed in the Global Data Lab’s Database Developing World, which features 400 harmonized household surveys and over 100 indicators that capture variations within countries in the fields of wealth, poverty, education, gender, demographics, and health.

Jeroen Smits, director of the Global Data Lab, will share how his team developed the Subnational Human Development Index (SHDI). The Human Development Index (HDI), originally designed by UNDP, measures average achievement at country level in key dimensions of human development: health, education, and standard of living. This subnational version is currently available for more than 1,600 regions in 161 countries between 1990 to 2017, covering more than 99% of the world’s population.

Speaker Bio

Jeroen Smits is Director of the Global Data Lab and Associate Professor of Inequality and Development at the Economics Department of Radboud University in the Netherlands. He is a broad social scientist specializing in cross-national multilevel research, data enrichment, and the development of knowledge instruments. Jeroen’s major research interests include inequality, social cohesion, and economic development. He developed a comparable wealth index for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and published comparative studies in the fields of education, child labor, women’s employment, child mortality, intermarriage, and public health related issues in LMICs.