Photo: Phillip Capper derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 06 of 18 · Country Index 2026
Vanuatu: Development & Human Capital
Is a country turning its resources into better lives?
Vanuatu is placed 123rd of 196 countries on development & human capital in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 3 key statistics. Readings behind it: Social Protection Coverage 57.4 (2025); Maternal Mortality Ratio 100.05 (2023).
Development & Human Capital
123rd
of 196 countries placed
Placed from 3 of 3 key statistics
01The evidence
The 3 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Vanuatu on development & human capital — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used — or, for a survey-based key, each country’s latest reading; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.
Key 2 of 3
Maternal Mortality Ratio
UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG)
Why it is a key: Whether a woman survives giving birth — the reach of a health system at the moment it is hardest to fake.
2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 3.0 IGO
100.05
Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births
Lower is better
Vanuatu: 100.05. Across the 195 countries in this edition, values run from 0.11 (Cook Islands) to 992.83 (Nigeria); the world median is 46.65.
- World median
- 46.65
- Best in Melanesia
- 30.24 Fiji
Each grey tick is one of 195 countries in the 2023 edition.
Key 3 of 3
Human Development Index
UNDP Human Development Report Office
Why it is a key: The standard composite of health, schooling and income, carrying UNDP's own published rank.
2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 3.0 IGO
0.621
HDI score (0–1)
Higher is better
Ranked 146th of 193 by UNDP Human Development Report Office
Vanuatu: 0.621. Across the 193 countries in this edition, values run from 0.388 (South Sudan) to 0.972 (Iceland); the world median is 0.762.
- World median
- 0.762
- Best in Melanesia
- 0.731 Fiji
Each grey tick is one of 193 countries in the 2023 edition.
02Over time
Which way Vanuatu is moving
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
Maternal Mortality Ratio
Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births · lower is better
VanuatuWorld median
Vanuatu fell from 133.49 in 2000 to 100.05 in 2023; the world median went from 70.99 to 46.65.
Every year’s figures
Year Vanuatu World median 2023 100.05 46.7 2022 104.93 53.0 2021 123.98 76.6 2020 107.06 56.0 2019 105.15 48.4 2018 107.53 49.3 2017 107.39 47.2 2016 107.32 50.6 2015 109.31 51.9 2014 110.46 52.8 2013 110.29 53.3 2012 109.27 54.6 2011 111.84 55.0 2010 114.43 56.1 2009 113.97 56.3 2008 116.76 55.8 2007 119.76 56.8 2006 122.95 58.1 2005 127.02 60.1 2004 130.78 63.0 2003 131.15 66.8 2002 128.01 66.0 2001 131.82 68.1 2000 133.49 71.0 Human Development Index
HDI score (0–1) · higher is better
VanuatuWorld median
Vanuatu rose from 0.561 in 2005 to 0.621 in 2023; the world median went from 0.696 to 0.762.
Every year’s figures
Year Vanuatu World median 2023 0.621 0.7620 2022 0.621 0.7610 2021 0.615 0.7450 2020 0.617 0.7425 2019 0.622 0.7515 2018 0.612 0.7520 2017 0.607 0.7480 2016 0.603 0.7500 2015 0.599 0.7430 2014 0.597 0.7410 2013 0.592 0.7390 2012 0.587 0.7350 2011 0.587 0.7250 2010 0.582 0.7250 2009 0.579 0.7220 2008 0.578 0.7180 2007 0.570 0.7100 2006 0.567 0.7045 2005 0.561 0.6960 2004 — 0.6960 2003 — 0.6910 2002 — 0.6845 2001 — 0.6770 2000 — 0.6720
03In context
Vanuatu beside its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 196 countries on development & human capital, never a place within the region.
Vanuatu and Melanesia
Vanuatu has no land border, so the table compares it with its sub-region. The standing is each country’s place among all 196 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.
| Country | Standing | Social Protection CoveragePopulation covered by at least one social protection benefit (%) | Maternal Mortality RatioMaternal deaths per 100,000 live births | Human Development IndexHDI score (0–1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Fiji | 86th | 65.6 | 30.24 | 0.731 |
| Vanuatu | 123rd | 57.4 | 100.05 | 0.621 |
 Solomon Islands | 151st | 17.2 | 122.59 | 0.584 |
 Papua New Guinea | 164th | 9.1 | 188.65 | 0.576 |
 New Caledonia | not placed | 72.6 | — | — |
“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.
Across Melanesia
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 196.
Placed either side on development & human capital
The countries immediately above and below Vanuatu in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
Where Vanuatu is ahead of the world, and behind
23 more statistics filed under development & human capital, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Ahead of the world median2
Statistics on which Vanuatu does better than the middle country measured.
Exclusive Breastfeeding Under Six MonthsUNICEF · 2024 · world median 40.7475.9440.74No earlier reading
Vanuatu: 75.94 · world median 40.74 · Infants under 6 months exclusively breastfed (%). UNICEF, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 3.497 to 83.3; higher is better.
Position 5th of 136 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 17.0516.0417.05No real change since 2013
Vanuatu: 16.04 · world median 17.05 · Coefficient of Human Inequality (%). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 4.865 to 43.08; lower is better.
Position 95th of 169 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Behind the world median19
Statistics on which Vanuatu does worse than the middle country measured.
Country Policy and Institutional AssessmentWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median 3.2463.2423.246▼ Worsened since 2015
Vanuatu: 3.242 · world median 3.246 · IDA Resource Allocation Index (1 = low to 6 = high). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 1.617 to 4.225; higher is better.
Position 40th of 78 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Infant Mortality RateUN IGME · 2024 · world median 12.2614.4312.26▼ Worsened since 2014
Vanuatu: 14.43 · world median 12.26 · Deaths before age one (per 1,000 live births). UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 1.214 to 71.87; lower is better.
Position 90th of 200 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Under-Five Mortality RateUN IGME · 2024 · world median 14.5417.1414.54▼ Worsened since 2014
Vanuatu: 17.14 · world median 14.54 · Deaths before age five (per 1,000 live births). UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 1.26 to 115.65; lower is better.
Position 88th of 200 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Child MarriageUNICEF · 2025 · world median 17.120.917.1No earlier reading
Vanuatu: 20.9 · world median 17.1 · Women 20–24 married before 18 (%). UNICEF, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 76.3; lower is better.
Position 63rd of 143 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 0.6090.5210.609No real change since 2013
Vanuatu: 0.521 · world median 0.609 · IHDI (0–1). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.226 to 0.923; higher is better.
Position 108th of 169 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Gender Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 0.9710.9520.971▲ Improved since 2013
Vanuatu: 0.952 · world median 0.971 · Gender Development Index (1.000 = parity). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.407 to 1.038; higher is better.
Position 118th of 184 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Global Multidimensional Poverty IndexOPHI · 2025 · world median 0.0390.1170.039▼ Worsened since 2018
Vanuatu: 0.117 · world median 0.039 · MPI (0–1). Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 0.517; lower is better.
Position 39th of 109 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Life Expectancy at BirthUN DESA Population Division · 2023 · world median 74.6371.4874.63No real change since 2013
Vanuatu: 71.48 · world median 74.63 · Years a newborn would live at current death rates. UN DESA Population Division, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 54.46 to 86.37; higher is better.
Position 146th of 222 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Expected Years of SchoolingUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 13.3411.8113.34▲ Improved since 2013
Vanuatu: 11.81 · world median 13.34 · Expected years of schooling. UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 5.635 to 21.69; higher is better.
Position 140th of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Human Capital IndexWorld Bank Group · 2020 · world median 0.5640.4550.564▼ Worsened since 2017
Vanuatu: 0.455 · world median 0.564 · HCI score (0–1). World Bank Group, 2020 edition, data for 2020.
Published values in that edition run from 0.292 to 0.879; higher is better.
Position 125th of 172 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Mean Years of SchoolingUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 9.9337.1839.933No real change since 2013
Vanuatu: 7.183 · world median 9.933 · Mean years of schooling (adults 25+). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 1.412 to 14.3; higher is better.
Position 141st of 193 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Stunting Prevalence in Children Under FiveUNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) · 2024 · world median 13.828.913.8No earlier reading
Vanuatu: 28.9 · world median 13.8 · Children under 5 who are stunted (%). UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0.518 to 52.8; lower is better.
Position 33rd of 162 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Completeness of Birth RegistrationUNICEF · 2025 · world median 98.476.798.4No earlier reading
Vanuatu: 76.7 · world median 98.4 · Children under 5 whose birth is registered (%). UNICEF, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 2.7 to 100; higher is better.
Statistical Performance IndicatorsWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median 69.353.4569.3▲ Improved since 2016
Vanuatu: 53.45 · world median 69.3 · SPI overall score (0–100). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 27.12 to 94.14; higher is better.
Position 154th of 188 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Access to ElectricityWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median 10065.5100No real change since 2014
Vanuatu: 65.5 · world median 100 · Population with electricity access (%). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 5.4 to 100; higher is better.
GDP per Capita (PPP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 17,2653,86717,265No real change since 2015
Vanuatu: 3,867 · world median 17,265 · GDP per capita (constant 2021 international $, PPP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 1,067 to 139,593; higher is better.
Position 158th of 185 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 0.3510.5560.351▲ Improved since 2013
Vanuatu: 0.556 · world median 0.351 · GII (0 = full equality, 1 = maximum inequality). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.003 to 0.838; lower is better.
Ranked 147th of 172 by UNDP Human Development Report Office.
Violent Discipline of ChildrenUNICEF · 2025 · world median 75.888.775.8No earlier reading
Vanuatu: 88.7 · world median 75.8 · Children aged 1-14 experiencing violent discipline (%). UNICEF, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 37.6 to 94; lower is better.
Position 12th of 90 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Cereal YieldFAO · 2023 · world median 3,072632.43,072No real change since 2013
Vanuatu: 632.4 · world median 3,072 · Cereal yield (kg per hectare). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 23 to 29,147; higher is better.
Position 174th of 179 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No better end2
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
Net Official Development Assistance ReceivedOECD Development Assistance Committee · 2023 · world median 2.57911.582.579Moved since 2013
Vanuatu: 11.58 · world median 2.579 · Net ODA received (% of GNI). OECD Development Assistance Committee, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from -0.001 to 101.78.
Position 18th of 130 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Children with Functional DifficultiesUNICEF · 2024 · world median 1310.613No earlier reading
Vanuatu: 10.6 · world median 13 · Children aged 5-17 with a functional difficulty (%). UNICEF, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0.9 to 35.2.
No current reading for Vanuatu
Account Ownership at a Financial Institution, GNI per Capita (PPP) (last 2024), Manufacturing Value Added (% of GDP) (last 2024), Planetary pressures-adjusted HDI, Poverty Gap at $3.00 a Day (last 2019), Poverty Headcount Ratio at $3.00 a Day (last 2019), Poverty Headcount Ratio at $8.30 a Day (last 2019) and Prosperity Gap (last 2019). Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Development & Human Capital among Vanuatu’s 13 topics
Development & Human Capital is Vanuatu’s 9th best-placed topic of 13. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.
- Peace & Security17th of 1772/4 keys
- Democracy & Civil Libertiesjoint 60th of 1983/3 keys
- Work & Labour88th of 1824/4 keys
- Governance & Institutions98th of 1944/4 keys
- Education & Knowledge89th of 1714/4 keys
- Poverty & Inequality85th of 1592/2 keys
- Gender & Equality102nd of 1833/4 keys
- Food & Agriculture109th of 1754/4 keys
- Development & Human Capital123rd of 1963/3 keys
- Health & Wellbeing130th of 2002/4 keys
- Digital & Technology138th of 1983/3 keys
- Economy & Innovationjoint 132nd of 1762/4 keys
- Risk & Resilience165th of 1923/3 keys
No standing on Environment & Sustainability, Mobility & Trade, Energy: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.
06The top of the list
Who leads on development & human capital
The three countries placed highest of 196, and the leaders Vanuatu can most readily be measured against.
1
Cook IslandsPolynesia
1st of 196 · 2 of 3 keys
Photo: Benedict Adam · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
2
NorwayNorthern Europe
2nd of 196 · 3 of 3 keys
Photo: Ximonic , Simo Räsänen · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3
DenmarkNorthern Europe
3rd of 196 · 3 of 3 keys
Photo: User:Aconcagua · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Placed highest nearby
Highest in Oceania
Cook Islands1st2/3 keysHighest in Melanesia
Fiji86th3/3 keysThis page
Vanuatu123rd3/3 keys
Positions out of 196 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Analysis
Charts and analysis about Vanuatu and development & human capital
On development & human capital
Global Hunger Index 2025: Countries with the Most Alarming Hunger Crisis
Thirteen countries scored across four editions — 2000, 2008, 2016 and 2025 — and five the report could not score at all. DR Congo and South Sudan share 121st place on 37.5.
On development & human capital
India vs Pakistan 2025: Comparison of Hunger Index, Happiness, HDI, Rule of Law, Literacy & GDP
India and Pakistan on six published measures: hunger, happiness, human development, rule of law, literacy and GDP per capita. India is the better placed on five of them; Pakistan on one.
08Questions
Vanuatu on development & human capital: questions answered
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
How does Vanuatu rank on development & human capital?
Vanuatu is placed 123rd of 196 countries on Development & Human Capital in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 3 key statistics (Social Protection Coverage, Maternal Mortality Ratio and Human Development Index). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
What is the latest Social Protection Coverage figure for Vanuatu?
57.4 in 2025 (population covered by at least one social protection benefit (%)), according to International Labour Organization (ILO). The world median in the same edition was 52.1.
What is the latest Maternal Mortality Ratio figure for Vanuatu?
100.05 in 2023 (maternal deaths per 100,000 live births), according to UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG). The world median in the same edition was 46.65.
How have Vanuatu’s development & human capital figures changed?
Maternal Mortality Ratio fell from 133.49 in 2000 to 100.05 in 2023; Human Development Index rose from 0.561 in 2005 to 0.621 in 2023.
Which development & human capital statistics are missing for Vanuatu?
No current reading is published for Vanuatu on Account Ownership at a Financial Institution, GNI per Capita (PPP), Manufacturing Value Added (% of GDP), Planetary pressures-adjusted HDI, Poverty Gap at $3.00 a Day, Poverty Headcount Ratio at $3.00 a Day, Poverty Headcount Ratio at $8.30 a Day and Prosperity Gap. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
09Keep reading
Explore further
Vanuatu, topic by topic
- Governance & Institutions98th of 194
- Economy & Innovation=132nd of 176
- Work & Labour88th of 182
- Education & Knowledge89th of 171
- Health & Wellbeing130th of 200
- Gender & Equality102nd of 183
- Democracy & Civil Liberties=60th of 198
- Peace & Security17th of 177
- Risk & Resilience165th of 192
- Food & Agriculture109th of 175
- Poverty & Inequality85th of 159
- Digital & Technology138th of 198
- The full Vanuatu profile
Nearby, on development & human capital
The key statistics, for every country
10Method
Method, sources and how to cite
What this topic does not measure
Poverty lines, inequality and aid received are published here as context rather than as keys, often because they cover fewer countries or are measured too rarely. Development is also not the same as economic size or growth, which belong to Economy & Innovation.
How the Development & Human Capital standing is decided, step by step
A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.
- A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 3 indicators on this topic are keys and 31 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
- Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2023 to 2025, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
- Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
- Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
- The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
- A country needs 2 of this topic’s 3 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 196 countries clear the bar here.
- A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 3.
- A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.
The key statistics and their licences
- Social Protection Coverage — International Labour Organization (ILO), CC BY 4.0
- Maternal Mortality Ratio — UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG), CC BY 3.0 IGO
- Human Development Index — UNDP Human Development Report Office, CC BY 3.0 IGO
The other 23 statistics on this page come from 9 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photographs
Vanuatu’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Vanuatu (banner) — Phillip Capper derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY 2.0
- Cook Islands — Benedict Adam, CC BY 2.0
- Norway — Ximonic , Simo Räsänen, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Denmark — User:Aconcagua, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Vanuatu: Development & Human Capital — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/vanuatu/development