In terms of progress in the Human Development Index (HDI) 2022-2023, Ivory Coast ranks first in Sub-Saharan Africa and 4th globally, with a 0.017 increase (3%) in one year, according to the latest 2025 Human Development Report (HDR) by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
With these figures, Ivory Coast is ranked 157th out of 193 countries, the report states, noting that this represents a gain of five positions compared to the previous year, and that the country's HDI value in 2023 is 0.582, which corresponds to an average HDI.
These figures were communicated in Abidjan by Becaye Diarra, Chief Economist at the UNDP, during the presentation of the 2025 report of the Programme entitled: "A Matter of Choice: People and Opportunities in the Age of AI." He noted that in the African region, Ivory Coast ranks 19th out of 45 countries.
He pointed out that Ivory Coast had recorded a progress of 0.7%, 1.0%, and 1.7% for the periods 1990-2000, 2000-2009, and 2010-2023, respectively, amounting to a 25.16% increase for the 2010-2023 period alone.
Looking at key HDI indicators, such as life expectancy at birth, expected years of schooling, average years of schooling for adults over 25, and gross national income per capita, Mr. Diarra also praised the country's impressive performance despite the challenges.
In figures, life expectancy at birth rose to 61.9 years in 2023, compared to 61.6 years in 2022. Expected years of schooling were 11.4 years in 2023, up from 10.2 years in 2022. The average years of schooling for adults over 25 remained steady at 4.9 years, and the gross national income per capita increased from $6,540.5 in 2022 to $6,735.4 in 2023.
For Becaye Diarra, artificial intelligence can help elevate Ivory Coast to the level of countries with high or very high HDI.
"The country is making progress toward reaching a high level. AI is a means to boost the HDI, provided the right choices are made, especially by building a complementary economy based on cooperation between individuals and AI, fostering responsible innovation by placing humans at the center of technology design, and strengthening human capacities by investing, especially in education and health," he recommended.
For her part, the Ivorian Minister of Economy, Planning, and Development, Nialé Kaba, highlighted that these results are the fruit of the effectiveness of the programs and policies implemented by the government since 2011, with the technical and financial support of development partners.
She assured that Ivory Coast has already begun implementing the relevant recommendations from the 2025 Human Development Report, including the development of national AI strategies and data governance, as well as the ongoing establishment of the Pan-African Artificial Intelligence Hub for Sustainable Development in Abidjan.
