Denmark vs Iceland: Human Development Index

Denmark

0.962

in 2023

Iceland

0.972

in 2023

Denmark rank

4th

Iceland rank

1st

Human Development Index over time

Denmark
Iceland

How they compare

Iceland currently reports 0.972 against 0.962 in Denmark, a difference of 0.01.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 34 shared years of data; in 1990 it was Denmark ahead.

Globally, Denmark ranks 4th and Iceland ranks 1st of 192 countries.

Individual pages

Human Development Index in Denmark
Human Development Index in Iceland
Full country ranking

About this data

Indicator: Human Development Index
Source: UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 192 places, 5,938 data points, 1990–2023
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, a good education, and a decent standard of living. Higher values indicate higher human development.