Morocco achieves high human development status in UNDP's 2025 index

Morocco has officially transitioned from “medium human development” to “high human development” status, as revealed in the 2025 Human Development Index (HDI) released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This significant milestone comes as the North African nation maintains its 120th position globally among 193 countries while enhancing its overall score to 0.710, surpassing the critical 0.700 threshold that signals entry into the high development category.

In last year’s report, Morocco held the same rank but recorded a score of 0.698, categorizing it within the medium development group. This recent improvement reflects substantial progress in the key dimensions of human development: health, education, and living standards, according to Morocco’s National Human Development Observatory.

The report highlights Morocco’s life expectancy at birth, which stands at 75.3 years, alongside expected years of schooling at 15.1 years and actual schooling years averaging 6.2. The gross national income per capita is reported to be $8,653.

Despite this commendable progress, Morocco continues to trail behind several regional neighbors. Algeria ranks 96th, Tunisia 105th, and Libya 115th in the global standings, with Lebanon at 102nd and Gabon at 108th also ahead.

Within the Arab nations, Morocco occupies the 13th position, with the United Arab Emirates leading the region at 15th globally, followed by Saudi Arabia (37th), Bahrain (38th), Qatar (43rd), Oman (50th), and Kuwait (52nd).

However, concerning data indicates that 6.4% of Moroccans live in multidimensional poverty, with an average deprivation rate of 42% across essential domains.

Critics of the HDI have argued that its rankings can be misleading. Political scientist Abdelkarim Amengay has pointed out that the index heavily relies on GDP per capita, favoring oil-producing countries while failing to reflect various other crucial factors. He questions how Libya, with its long-standing dysfunctional state institutions, could rank higher than Morocco, emphasizing that oil wealth can inflate GDP figures without translating into improved living conditions for citizens.

On the topic of gender equality, Morocco falls into the fifth global group, representing nations with the lowest equity levels, scoring 0.859 on the Gender Inequality Index. While the report notes a downward trend in this index, suggesting gradual improvement, it emphasizes the need for Morocco to concentrate on reducing maternal mortality rates, enhancing women's representation in decision-making bodies, and improving access to education and labor opportunities.

At the international level, Iceland leads the HDI rankings, followed by Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, and Germany, while South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Somalia, Chad, Niger, and Mali occupy the lowest positions.

This year’s UNDP report, titled “A matter of choice: People and possibilities in the age of AI,” underscores the critical importance of freedom of choice in human development and explores how artificial intelligence can bolster this freedom. It highlights the rapid advancement of AI while human development struggles to keep pace, with nearly a third of the global population anticipating that AI will soon impact education, health, and work across all development levels.

The report warns of a troubling global trend, indicating that if the current sluggish growth in human development becomes the norm, it could delay development goals by decades, rendering the world “less safe, more divided, and more vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks.”