The even expansion and distribution of health and education after the Islamic Revolution led to one of the fastest declines in poverty levels.
Iran has been placed among the high development index countries in the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)’s Human Development Report for 2025.
The report analyzes 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.
According to the report, Iran's HDI stands at 0.779, up from 0.780 last year, ranking 75 among 193 countries and territories. This places the country in the “High Human Development” category.
Between 1990 and 2023, Iran's HDI value changed from 0.626 to 0.799, a rise of 27.6 percent.
The improvement comes in the face of the most stringent sanctions which have hit ordinary Iranians hard, sending prices soaring on everything from staples and consumer goods to housing.
The human development index is one of the important indicators for assessing the progress of countries.
Improving the human development index is directly related to achievements in human and economic development in a society. It involves empowering people and improving their living standards by using human capabilities.
One of the highlights of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 was the literacy movement which began on the order of the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini when more than half of Iran’s population over the age of six were illiterate.
According to officials of the Literacy Movement Organization of Iran, the literacy rate in the country has reached 97.1% in the age group of 10 to 49 years for the first time, bringing the country to all but full literacy.
The relationship between educational attainment, literacy skills and economic growth is a given, but it has become more vivid in today’s technologically-based global economy.
Studies have found that investment in educational attainment is three times as important to economic growth over the long run as investment in physical capital, such as machinery and equipment.
One of the sobering conclusions is that educational attainment matters a great deal for the well being and development of nations.
Between 1976 and 2016, the world witnessed a 20% growth in literacy rate. This growth rate during the same period was approximately 50% for Iran, according to the World Bank.
One significant achievement is the meteoric rise in the number of female students and university graduates in a variety of disciplines.
Before the Islamic Revolution, more than over 60% of the Iranian women were illiterate. Currently, close to 60% of first-year university students are women.
While Iran has indeed made progress in all directions over the last 46 years, the typical Western propaganda line has been to depict the country mired in misery.
Social policies followed before the revolution and after it help explain why Iran’s Human Development Index (HDI) has improved so much.
Central to the grassroots movement which culminated in the Islamic Revolution was tending to the downtrodden, who were left behind by the monarchy’s uneven development model.
The shift from the shah’s elite-centered policies to giving equal opportunities to the underprivileged included expanding infrastructure and basic services such as electricity, clean water, healthcare and education to all corners of the vast country.
The even expansion and distribution of health and education led to one of the fastest declines in poverty levels, where poverty rate of 25% in the 1970s dropped to less than 10% in 2014.
While the population has more than doubled, most Iranians today enjoy access to basic services and infrastructure, unlike before the revolution.
Of course, there are some worrying trends as well. Along changes in the distribution of wealth, the access of certain circles to rents – the result of neoliberalization in various Iranian economic policies since the 1990s - has led to the emergence of some nouveaux riches.
Nevertheless, the overall picture is positive, with the UNDP’s Human Development Report being the clear evidence.
The UNDP’s positive projection of Iran flies in the face of its characterization of overall global human development progress as weak.
According to the report, the meager rise in global human development projected in 2025 is the smallest increase since 1990.
The report entitled "A matter of choice: people and possibilities in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)" underlines how AI could reignite development.
Looking ahead, Iran has the potential to create new investment opportunities by leveraging artificial intelligence to advance scientific and technological innovations.
Adopting a strategic approach with special emphasis on equal access for women and girls to education, employment, and health services can play an effective role in meaningfully improving this indicator.
The UNDP report outlines three critical areas for action, and Iran with its expanding digital ecosystem needs to take heed.
The country, as suggested by the report, needs to build an economy where people collaborate with AI rather than compete against it.
In the process, human agency needs to be embedded across the full AI lifecycle, from design to deployment, while education and health systems have to be modernized to meet 21st-century demands.
