Explaining Canada's Falling Human Development Ranking Over Time: True Decline or Statistical Artifact?

Alisaleh Shariati

No 2025-02, CSLS Research Reports from Centre for the Study of Living Standards

Abstract: Canada’s position in the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) has slipped from 3rd in 1990 to 16ᵗʰ in 2023, when the latest report was released in 2025. This 13‑place decline occurred even though Canada’s absolute HDI score continued to improve. Using the UNDP’s revised HDI series, national Labour Force Survey (LFS) enrolment data and counterfactual growth scenarios, this report decomposes Canada’s deteriorating position. Data issues in UNESCO’s “expected years of schooling” series explain roughly two‑fifths of the rank loss and replacing the apparent mismeasured values with LFS‑based estimates narrows the 1990‑2023 drop from 13 to 8 places because of a lower ranking in 1990 instead of the 3rd. The remaining three‑fifths reflects genuine underperformance. Canada’s life‑expectancy rank fell from 7ᵗʰ to 18ᵗʰ, while its real GNI‑per‑capita rank hovered near 25ᵗʰ as both variables lagged the OECD average growth in that period. These findings demonstrate that measurement errors have distorted Canada’s HDI performance over time. However, correcting them is only a partial remedy; regaining Canada’s 1990s HDI ranking will ultimately require faster progress in health outcomes and income growth.

Keywords: Human Development Index; HDI; Canada; ranking decline; life expectancy; education; GNI per capita; UNDP (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-10
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