News Archive

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.

Area Database 3.5.0 released
27 April 2019
Version 3.5.0 of our Area Database released! New data have been added for Albania, Congo Brazzaville, Lao, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tajikistan, Thailand.
SHDI Database now available on our website
14 March 2019
The complete SHDI Database 1990-2017 for 1625 regions in 161 countries is now available on our website under "Human Development Index". This SD-2019 version of the database is equal to the database connected to our Data Descriptor paper "The Subnational Human Development Database" published in "Scientific Data". This paper can freely be downloaded from www.nature.com/articles/sdata201938.
SHDI Database 2.2 released
16 January 2019
Today a new version (2.2) of the SHDI Database has been uploaded, with data for 1625 subnational regions in 161 countries. New data has been added for Equatorial Guinea. The data has been updated for Somalia, Kosovo, East Timor, Argentina, Venezuela, Malaysia, EU-countries and small improvements have been made in data for other countries.