The HDI is considered to be, if not a better than, then at least an alternative measure used with GDP to determine measures of human development. Because it factors in life expectancy and education, it allows people to see whether the economic progress a country is experiencing really means anything for their standard of living. Different ways of measuring HDI, such as IHDI or dis-aggregated HDI (which takes into account specific populations in a country and treats them all with different statistics as if they were different countries) takes these into account better.
However, there are many criticisms. One criticism of HDI is that the results which rank different nations ends up being too similar to GDP per Capita, bringing into question whether HDI truly determines anything different from GDP. Another is that the three components of HDI are all measured equally, but there is some discussion about whether each one contributes equally to human development, and if they should have different weights assigned instead.
The components are also very narrow -- they do not factor in more nuanced expressions of human prosperity, such as freedom or political development, which can be considered crucial to human development. Regular HDI doesn’t take into account inequalities within countries. Lastly, sustainability isn’t considered -- environmental protections and regulations are often thought to be a hallmark of a developed and self-aware nation, as well as attests to the education of a population.
However, there are many criticisms. One criticism of HDI is that the results which rank different nations ends up being too similar to GDP per Capita, bringing into question whether HDI truly determines anything different from GDP. Another is that the three components of HDI are all measured equally, but there is some discussion about whether each one contributes equally to human development, and if they should have different weights assigned instead.
The components are also very narrow -- they do not factor in more nuanced expressions of human prosperity, such as freedom or political development, which can be considered crucial to human development. Regular HDI doesn’t take into account inequalities within countries. Lastly, sustainability isn’t considered -- environmental protections and regulations are often thought to be a hallmark of a developed and self-aware nation, as well as attests to the education of a population.