Compared to other African countries, Seychelles scored the highest in the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2022. The country also ranked 67th globally, as one of the countries with a very high human development. This was followed by Mauritius, Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia, with scores ranging from 0.80 to 0.73 points. On the other hand, Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Somalia were among the countries in the region with the lowest index scores, indicating a low level of human development.

In 2024, Sudan was ranked as the most miserable country in the world, with a misery index score of 374.8. Argentina ranked second with an index score of 195.9. Quality of life around the worldThe misery index was created by the economist Arthur Okun in the 1960s. The index is calculated by adding the unemployment rate, the lending rate and the inflation rate minus percent change of GDP per capita. Another famous tool used for the comparison of development of countries around the world is the Human Development Index, which takes into account such factors as life expectancy at birth, literacy rate, education level and gross national income (GNI) per capita. Better economic conditions correlate with higher quality of life Economic conditions affect the life expectancy, which is much higher in the wealthiest regions. With a life expectancy of 85 years, Liechtenstein led the ranking of countries with the highest life expectancy in 2023. On the other hand, Nigeria was the country with the lowest life expectancy, where men were expected to live 55 years as of 2024. The Global Liveability Index ranks the quality of life in cities around the world, basing on political, social, economic and environmental aspects, such as personal safety and health, education and transport services and other public services. In 2024, Vienna was ranked as the city with the highest quality of life worldwide.

As of 2020, Mauritius was ranked highest among African countries based on E-Government Development Index (EGDI), with a rating of 0.72. The EGDI assesses e-government development at a national level and is based on three components: online service index, telecommunication infrastructure index, and the human capital index. At 0.39, the regional average EDGI for the African continent is almost a third lower than the world average of 0.60.

Somalia ist nicht nur in Afrika, sondern auch weltweit das Land mit dem geringsten Entwicklungsstand nach dem Human-Development-Index (HDI) im Jahr 2022 mit einem Indexwert von 0,380. Es folgt der Südsudan mit einem Indexwert von 0,381. Auf Rang drei liegt die Zentralafrikanische Republik mit einem HDI von 0,387. Insgesamt werden alle 20 Staaten der Klasse des "low human development" zugeordnet. Der Weltdurchschnitt des HDI liegt bei 0,739 Punkten. Was ist der Human Development Index (HDI)? Der HDI ist ein Wohlstandsindikator, der neben dem Bruttonationaleinkommen pro Kopf auch Lebenserwartung und Bildung berücksichtigt. Der Indikator kann einen Wert zwischen 0 und 1 annehmen (zur besseren Darstellung wurden die ursprünglichen Werte in dieser Statistik mit 1.000 multipliziert). Je höher der Wert, desto weiter ist die Entwicklung in den jeweiligen Ländern vorangeschritten.