The Human Development Index (HDI) of Germany has increased from 0.829 in 1990 to 0.942 by 2021, indicating that Germany has reached very high levels of human development. The HDI itself is a statistic that combines life-expectancy, education levels and GDP per capita. Countries with scores over 0.800 are considered to have very high levels of development, compared with countries that score lower. Germany's HDI score has increased from 0.801 in 1990 to 0.947 by 2019, implying that Germany has consistently had a very high level of human development.

Germany: Human Development Index (0 - 1): The latest value from 2023 is 0.959 points, an increase from 0.95 points in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 0.744 points, based on data from 185 countries. Historically, the average for Germany from 1980 to 2023 is 0.889 points. The minimum value, 0.739 points, was reached in 1980 while the maximum of 0.959 points was recorded in 2023.

Switzerland had the highest level of the Human Development Index (HDI) worldwide in 2022 with a value of 0.967. With a score of 0.966, Norway followed closely behind Switzerland and had the second highest level of human development in that year. The rise of the Asian tigers In the decades after the Cold War, the four so-called Asian tigers, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong (now a Special Administrative Region of China) experienced rapid economic growth and increasing human development. At number four and number nine of the HDI, respectively, Hong Kong and Singapore are the only Asian locations within the top 10 highest HDI scores. Both locations have experienced tremendous economic growth since the 1980’s and 1990’s. In 1980, the per capita GDP of Hong Kong was 5,703 U.S. dollars, increasing throughout the decades until reaching 50,029 in 2023, which is expected to continue to increase in the future. Meanwhile, in 1989, Singapore had a GDP of nearly 31 billion U.S. dollars, which has risen to nearly 501 billion U.S. dollars today and is also expected to keep increasing. Growth of the UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the only Middle Eastern country besides Israel within the highest ranking HDI scores globally. Within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the UAE has the third largest GDP behind Saudi Arabia and Israel, reaching nearly 507 billion U.S. dollars by 2022. Per capita, the UAE GDP was around 21,142 U.S. dollars in 1989, and has nearly doubled to 43,438 U.S. dollars by 2021. Moreover, this is expected to reach over 67,538 U.S. dollars by 2029. On top of being a major oil producer, the UAE has become a hub for finance and business and attracts millions of tourists annually.

In 2023 Zurich was both the leading smart city based on the IMD smart city index as well as the city with the highest human development index score, making it one of the premier places on earth to live in. Notable exceptions to the HDI to IMD index score were Beijing, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. Beijing is a notable outlier because although it ranked 12th on the digital smart cities ranking it was nearly 90 points lower than Zurich on the HDI score. This is compared to Munich, Germany, which was the 20th digital city but had a HDI score of 950.

Smart tech is watching.

CCTV cameras powered by artificial intelligence have become a significant growing market in the modern city. These are predominantly residential, with half the market catering to residential applications of CCTV cameras. However, commercial and business-related CCTV cameras have also seen significant growth, with the market reaching over 800 million U.S. dollars in 2023.

Digital cities need data and data needs infrastructure.

The leading issue with AI infrastructure is data management. AI is a strong influence on how digital cities work and requires a considerable amount of infrastructure to be effective. Storage of AI software is a minor concern, accounting for less than ten percent of challenges globally in 2023.

The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the direction of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013, i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. With the approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system comprises in total, it claims to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated way across various areas of life and to observe them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-cutting global welfare measures were also included in the dashboard, i.e. general welfare indicators such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Around 90 of the indicators were marked as "key indicators" in order to highlight central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across the various areas of life. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of the data of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicator Research, which is based at GESIS, since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under "Other documents".
The data on the area of life ´Application of Income and Supply´ is composed as follows: The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the leadership of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013 , i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. The approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system includes as a whole aim to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated manner across different areas of life and to monitor them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-sectional global welfare measures were also included in the indicator system, i.e. general welfare indicators, such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Of the indicators, around 90 were marked as “key indicators” to identify central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across different areas of life to highlight. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of data from the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicators Research at GESIS since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under “Other documents”.

Allemagne: Human Development Index (0 - 1): Pour cet indicateur, The United Nations fournit des données pour la Allemagne de 1980 à 2022. La valeur moyenne pour Allemagne pendant cette période était de 0.887 points avec un minimum de 0.739 points en 1980 et un maximum de 0.95 points en 2022.

The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the direction of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013, i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. With the approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system comprises in total, it claims to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated way across various areas of life and to monitor them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-cutting global welfare measures were also included in the indicator system, i.e. general welfare indicators such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Around 90 of the indicators were marked as "key indicators" in order to highlight central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across the various areas of life. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of the data of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicator Research, which is based at GESIS, since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under "Other documents".
The data on the area of life: Global Welfare Measures Social prosperity: GDP per capita. Social welfare: human development, social security, social integration. Subjective well-being: well-being - cognitive, well-being - affective, concern.

Iceland had the highest inequality adjusted education index score worldwide, amounting to 0.94 out of one on the index. Germany followed with an index score of 0.92. The inequality-adjusted education index is the education index in the Human Development Index adjusted for inequality.

The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the direction of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013, i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. With the approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system comprises in total, it claims to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated way across various areas of life and to monitor them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-cutting global welfare measures were also included in the indicator system, i.e. general welfare indicators such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Around 90 of the indicators were marked as "key indicators" in order to highlight central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across the various areas of life. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of the data of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicator Research, which is based at GESIS, since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under "Other documents".

The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the direction of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013, i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. With the approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system comprises in total, it claims to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated way across various areas of life and to monitor them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-cutting global welfare measures were also included in the indicator system, i.e. general welfare indicators such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Around 90 of the indicators were marked as "key indicators" in order to highlight central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across the various areas of life. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of the data of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicator Research, which is based at GESIS, since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under "Other documents".

The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the direction of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013, i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. With the approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system comprises in total, it claims to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated way across various areas of life and to monitor them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-cutting global welfare measures were also included in the indicator system, i.e. general welfare indicators such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Around 90 of the indicators were marked as "key indicators" in order to highlight central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across the various areas of life. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of the data of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicator Research, which is based at GESIS, since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under "Other documents".
Amount and use of free time (first level): Amount of free time; Leisure activities in everyday life; Holiday trips; Spending on leisure goods (first level): Share of spending on leisure, entertainment and culture in spendable income; Share of expenditure on books, newspapers and magazines in all expenditure on leisure time; Share of photo, film equipment and optical equipment in all spending on leisure time; Subjective assessment of leisure time (first level): Subjective assessment of the amount of free time; Subjective importance of leisure time; Subjective satisfaction with the; Media (first level): Use of media; Duration of media usage; Reach of current media; Reach of the news in comparison; Subjective assessment of media loyalty.

The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the direction of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013, i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. With the approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system comprises in total, it claims to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated way across various areas of life and to monitor them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-cutting global welfare measures were also included in the indicator system, i.e. general welfare indicators such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Around 90 of the indicators were marked as "key indicators" in order to highlight central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across the various areas of life. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of the data of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicator Research, which is based at GESIS, since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under "Other documents".
Participation in political areas [first level]: Political participation; Political interests; Participation in the world of work [first level]: Union density; Trade union density (SOEP); Companies with works councils; Participation in other areas of society [first level]: Proportion of religiously affiliated people; Share of churchgoers; Proportion of club members; Proportion of volunteers; Proportion of help from neighbors and relatives; Subjective evaluation [first level]: - Satisfaction with the opportunities for political participation; Satisfaction with the church; Satisfaction with democratic institutions.

In 2025, Luxembourg was the country with the highest gross domestic product per capita in the world. Of the 20 listed countries, 13 are in Europe and five are in Asia, alongside the U.S. and Australia. There are no African or Latin American countries among the top 20. Correlation with high living standards While GDP is a useful indicator for measuring the size or strength of an economy, GDP per capita is much more reflective of living standards. For example, when compared to life expectancy or indices such as the Human Development Index or the World Happiness Report, there is a strong overlap - 14 of the 20 countries on this list are also ranked among the 20 happiest countries in 2024, and all 20 have "very high" HDIs. Misleading metrics? GDP per capita figures, however, can be misleading, and to paint a fuller picture of a country's living standards then one must look at multiple metrics. GDP per capita figures can be skewed by inequalities in wealth distribution, and in countries such as those in the Middle East, a relatively large share of the population lives in poverty while a smaller number live affluent lifestyles.

The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the direction of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013, i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. With the approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system comprises in total, it claims to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated way across various areas of life and to monitor them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-cutting global welfare measures were also included in the indicator system, i.e. general welfare indicators such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Around 90 of the indicators were marked as "key indicators" in order to highlight central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across the various areas of life. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of the data of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicator Research, which is based at GESIS, since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under "Other documents".
Indicators for the area of life “education”

The data on the area of life “education” is made up as follows:

Participation in education and educational opportunities: Access to the elementary area [second level]; Children in kindergartens; Provision rate in child day care for children under three years old; Participation in education in lower secondary education [second level]; School attendance of 13-year-olds by school type; School success in lower secondary education [second level]; School leavers without a secondary school diploma; School success in upper secondary education [second level]: High school graduate rate; Participation in tertiary education [second level]: Student quota of 20 to 30 year olds; Equal opportunities in tertiary education [second level]: Student entry rate for university studies; Entry rate for university/technical college studies; Further training [second level]: VHS course occupancy per 100 inhabitants; Participation rate for the entire further training; Participation rate in general and political further training; Participation rate in continuing professional education; Participation rate of continuing vocational training among employed people; Qualification [first level]: Language competence [second level]: Proportion of population with foreign language skills; IT competence [second level]: Proportion of population with computer skills; Quality of school education [second level]: Proportion of students with a lack of mathematical competence; Proportion of students with poor reading skills; Proportion of students with a lack of scientific competence; Vocational training [second level]: Share of population with apprenticeship/skilled training; Proportion of the population with vocational training; Proportion of the population with a technical college education; Proportion of the population with a university degree; Effectiveness [first level]: Unemployment rate: people without training; Unemployment rate: university graduates; Organization and costs of the education system [first level]: Public/private sector ratio [second level]: Proportion of high school students in public schools to all high school students; Costs of the education system [second level]: Share of public budget expenditure on education; public/private financing of studies; Financing the studies; Subjective preservation and evaluation of education [first level]: Satisfaction with training.

The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the direction of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013, i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. With the approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system comprises in total, it claims to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated way across various areas of life and to monitor them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-cutting global welfare measures were also included in the indicator system, i.e. general welfare indicators such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Around 90 of the indicators were marked as "key indicators" in order to highlight central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across the various areas of life. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of the data of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicator Research, which is based at GESIS, since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under "Other documents".

The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the direction of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013, i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. With the approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system comprises in total, it claims to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated way across various areas of life and to monitor them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-cutting global welfare measures were also included in the indicator system, i.e. general welfare indicators such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Around 90 of the indicators were marked as "key indicators" in order to highlight central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across the various areas of life. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of the data of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicator Research, which is based at GESIS, since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under "Other documents".
Burden of crime (first level): Frequency of crime; Risk of victimization; Subjective perception and evaluation of public safety (first level): Satisfaction with public safety; Subjective threat from crime; Scope and effectiveness of crime protection and combating (first level): Personnel and financial requirements; Effectiveness of investigations and prosecution; Inequality and selectivity in the risk of criminalization (first level): Suspect number; Relation of the number of suspects of men and women; Relation of the number of suspects of foreign and German men; Conviction rate; Relation of the number of men and women convicted; Relation of the number of foreign and German men convicted.

The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the direction of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013, i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. With the approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system comprises in total, it claims to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated way across various areas of life and to observe them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-cutting global welfare measures were also included in the dashboard, i.e. general welfare indicators such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Around 90 of the indicators were marked as "key indicators" in order to highlight central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across the various areas of life. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of the data of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicator Research, which is based at GESIS, since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under "Other documents".

The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the direction of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013, i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. With the approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system comprises in total, it claims to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated way across various areas of life and to monitor them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-cutting global welfare measures were also included in the indicator system, i.e. general welfare indicators such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Around 90 of the indicators were marked as "key indicators" in order to highlight central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across the various areas of life. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of the data of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicator Research, which is based at GESIS, since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under "Other documents".

The system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany - developed in its original version as part of the SPES project under the direction of Wolfgang Zapf - provides quantitative information on levels, distributions and changes in quality of life, social progress and social change in Germany from 1950 to 2013, i.e. over a period of more than sixty years. With the approximately 400 objective and subjective indicators that the indicator system comprises in total, it claims to measure welfare and quality of life in Germany in a differentiated way across various areas of life and to observe them over time. In addition to the indicators for 13 areas of life, including income, education and health, a selection of cross-cutting global welfare measures were also included in the dashboard, i.e. general welfare indicators such as life satisfaction, social isolation or the Human Development Index. Based on available data from official statistics and survey data, time series were compiled for all indicators, ideally with annual values from 1950 to 2013. Around 90 of the indicators were marked as "key indicators" in order to highlight central dimensions of welfare and quality of life across the various areas of life. The further development and expansion, regular maintenance and updating as well as the provision of the data of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany have been among the tasks of the Center for Social Indicator Research, which is based at GESIS, since 1987. For a detailed description of the system of social indicators for the Federal Republic of Germany, see the study description under "Other documents".
The data on the area of life ´Transport´: Scope and possible uses of transport: volume of traffic, purposes of travel, accessibility of work, availability of and access to transport. Traffic safety: traffic risk per 1000 inhabitants, fatalities in road traffic per 100,000 inhabitants, injuries in traffic per 10,000 inhabitants, fatalities in traffic by type of traffic involvement per 100,000 inhabitants, injuries in traffic by type of traffic involvement per 10,000 inhabitants. Costs of the transport system: social costs, private costs. Burden from the transport system: share of traffic in total final energy consumption, share of road and rail traffic in final energy consumption of traffic, share of passenger traffic in final energy consumption of road traffic, share of public and private transport in final energy consumption of passenger traffic, share of road traffic in emissions, land consumption of the transport system.