Human development hits 35-year low, but AI may offer a lifeline: UNDP

Human development progress is experiencing an unprecedented slowdown, according to a new report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The report shows how Artificial Intelligence (AI) could reignite development.

Instead of seeing sustained recovery following the period of exceptional crises of 2020-2021, the report revealed unexpectedly weak progress. Excluding those crisis years, the meagre rise in global human development projected in this year’s report is the smallest increase since 1990.

The 2025 Human Development Report—'A matter of choice: people and possibilities in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)'—analyses development progress across a range of indicators known as the Human Development Index (HDI), which encompasses achievements in health and education, along with levels of income. Projections for 2024 reveal stalled progress in the HDI in all regions across the world.

Beyond the alarming rate of deceleration in global development, the report finds widening inequalities between rich and poor countries. As traditional paths to development are squeezed by global pressures, decisive action is needed to move the world away from prolonged stagnation on progress.

India has the highest self-reported AI skill prevalence globally but even as lower-income countries cultivate talent pools, systematic gaps in compute, data and institutional support drive net losses, as skilled workers migrate to higher-income countries, the report said. India plans to set up a common compute facility to support AI development, including among researchers and startups. AI is helping Indian farmers get real-time support, including access to insurance and subsidies in their local languages, it added.

“For decades, we have been on track to reach a very high human development world by 2030, but this deceleration signals a very real threat to global progress,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator. “If 2024’s sluggish progress becomes ‘the new normal’, that 2030 milestone could slip by decades – making our world less secure, more divided, and more vulnerable to economic and ecological shocks.”

For the fourth year in a row inequality between Low HDI and Very High HDI countries continues to increase, according to the report. This reverses a long-term trend that has seen a reduction in inequalities between wealthy and poor nations.

Development challenges for countries with the lowest HDI scores are especially severe—driven by increasing trade tensions, a worsening debt crisis, and the rise of jobless industrialization.

“Amidst this global turmoil, we must urgently explore new ways to drive development,” Steiner said. “As Artificial Intelligence continues its rapid advance across so many aspects of our lives, we should consider its potential for development. New capabilities are emerging almost daily, and while AI is no panacea, the choices we make hold the potential to reignite human development and open new pathways and possibilities.”

The report contains the results of a new survey that showed people are realistic yet hopeful about the change AI can bring.

Half of respondents worldwide think that their jobs could be automated.  An even larger share—six in ten— expect AI to impact their employment positively, creating opportunities in jobs that may not even exist today.

Only 13% of survey respondents fear AI could lead to job losses. In contrast, in low- and medium-HDI countries, 70% expect AI to increase their productivity, and two-thirds anticipate using AI in education, health, or work within the next year.

Nearly half of students and a quarter of working people use AI-powered applications more than once a week, primarily for education and work. In contrast, only 15% of non-working people and 9% of retired individuals do so, mostly for entertainment and health.

The report advocates for a human-centered approach to AI, which has the potential to fundamentally redesign approaches to development. The survey results show that across the world, people are ready for this kind of ‘reset’.

The report outlines three critical areas for action: building an economy where people collaborate with AI rather than compete against it; embedding human agency across the full AI lifecycle, from design to deployment; and modernising education and health systems to meet 21st-century demands.

Democratisation of AI is already underway. Around one in five of survey respondents report already using AI. And two-thirds of respondents across lower human development countries anticipate using AI in education, health, or work within the next year. "That makes closing electricity and internet gaps more urgent than ever, so no one is excluded from emerging possibilities. Yet, access alone is not enough: the real divide will hinge on how effectively AI complements and augments what people do," it said.

While China now retains 47% of its homegrown researchers—up from 29% in 2019—most lower-income countries struggle to retain talent, said the UNDP report. India has also made progress in retaining talent: 20% of its AI researchers now stay domestically (up from near zero in 2019).