Human Development Report 2023/2024: Breaking the Gridlock

The Human Development Report (HDR), published annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), explores global challenges and progress in human development worldwide. This edition of the report, Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining Cooperation in a Polarized World, examines the gridlock caused by uneven progress in global development, growing inequalities, and political polarization worldwide. The 2024 report finds that while the global Human Development Index (HDI) – which measures countries’ national income per capita, education, and life expectancy– is projected to reach record highs, progress in human development is widely uneven across high-income and low-income countries, with the poorest countries being left behind. The report focuses on global interdependence and the role of multilateralism in development efforts.

The authors outline recommendations focused on collective action to address complex global challenges, such as pandemics, climate change, and digital regulation– to close human development gaps and reimagine systems that protect the health and future of people and the planet.

Chapters include:

• Chapter 1: Human Development Suffers When Interdependence is Mismanaged
• Chapter 2: Global Interdependence Persists– But is Being Reshaped
• Chapter 3: Providing Global Public Goods to Manage Interdependence
• Chapter 4: Examining how to Enhance Collective Action
• Chapter 5: Expanding Agency for Collective Action
• Chapter 6: Breaking the Gridlock to Enhance Collective Action

Additional resources include a comprehensive report overview, an interactive web version of the report, interactive data visualizations and databases of human development indicators, and country profiles.