Zambia, year by year

Every index this site holds for Zambia, in time order: 12 series across 1990–2025, each value as its source published it. The profile shows the latest snapshot; this is the record behind it.

HDI since 1990

Human development rose from 0.422 in 1990 to 0.595 in 2023.

UNDP Human Development Report, 2025 edition. 34 annual values, none interpolated.

Twenty years here

The world report

Life expectancy at birth: 66.5 years2024at birthUp 14.9 years from 51.6 years in 2005
Internet users: 17%2024of people onlineUp 16 points from 2% in 2006
Urban population: 46%2025of people in towns and citiesUp 8 points from 38% in 2006
Births per woman: 4.042024births per womanDown 1.66 from 5.70 in 2005
Renewable share of energy: 83%2021of energy usedDown 6 points from 89% in 2004
Access to electricity: 54%2024of people with electricityUp 30 points from 23% in 2005
Infant mortality: 352024deaths before age one, per 1,000 birthsDown 26 from 60 in 2005
CO2 emissions per person: 0.5 t2024of CO2 per person a yearUp 0.3 t from 0.2 t in 2005
Forest area: 60%2023of land under forestDown 4 points from 63% in 2004

World Bank, from the first to the last observed year of each indicator; each has its own window.

All indexes, 1990–2025

36 years · 12 series · 3 values marked for checking

Year	HDI0–1	Life expectancy at birthyears	Internet users% of people	Urban population% of people	Births per womanbirths	Renewable share of energy% of energy	Access to electricity% of people	Infant mortalityper 1,000 births	CO2 emissions per persont/year	Forest area% of land	GDP per capitaUS$	GDP per capita, PPPintl $
1990	0.422	48.2	—	—	6.57	83.0	14	102	0.4	63.8	—	—
1991	0.416	47.4	—	39.3	6.46	82.3	13	103	0.4	63.7	—	—
1992	0.414	47.0	—	39.1	6.35	82.7	19	102	0.4	63.7	—	—
1993	0.417	46.7	—	38.9	6.30	85.2	14	102	0.3	63.6	—	—
1994	0.413	46.3	0.0	38.7	6.26	86.9	15	100	0.3	63.6	—	—
1995	0.413	46.0	0.0	38.4	6.23	87.1	16	99	0.3	63.5	—	—
1996	0.415	45.8	0.0	38.0	6.18	89.6	17	97	0.2	63.5	—	—
1997	0.418	45.7	0.0	37.4	6.12	87.0	17	96	0.3	63.4	—	—
1998	0.418	45.7	0.0	36.7	6.07	87.8	19	95	0.3	63.4	—	—
1999	0.423	45.9	0.1	36.2	6.00	89.8	19	93	0.2	63.3	—	—
2000	0.429	46.6	0.2	35.9	5.92	90.0	17	89	0.2	63.3	—	—
2001	0.437	47.4	0.2	35.9	5.85	89.8	20	85	0.2	63.3	—	—
2002	0.445	48.5	0.5	36.1	5.77	89.6	17	79	0.2	63.2	—	—
2003	0.458	49.6	1.0	36.4	5.71	89.3	19	72	0.2	63.1	—	—
2004	0.468	50.5	1.1	36.8	5.70	89.4	20	66	0.2	63.1	—	—
2005	0.480	51.6	1.3	37.3	5.70	88.9	23	60	0.2	63.1	—	—
2006	0.492	52.7	1.6	37.8	5.68	89.7	24	56	0.2	63.0	1052	2378
2007	0.504	53.7	1.9	38.4	5.61	90.7	19	54	0.2	63.0	1119	2555
2008	0.514	54.8	2.2	39.0	5.53	89.8	26	52	0.2	62.9	1376	2708
2009	0.526	55.9	2.5	39.5	5.45	89.2	27	50	0.2	62.9	1136	2872
2010	0.533	56.9	3.0	40.0	5.36	89.2	22	49	0.2	62.8	1451	3098
2011	0.538	57.8	3.5	40.4	5.26	87.9	28	47	0.2	62.6	1625	3228
2012	0.551	58.7	4.1	40.8	5.14	85.4	29	46	0.3	62.3	1710	3324
2013	0.557	59.5	4.8	41.2	5.01	85.3	30	45	0.3	62.1	1821	3477
2014	0.559	60.1	6.5	41.6	4.89	84.6	28	43	0.3	61.8	1707	3441
2015	0.565	60.7	8.8	42.0	4.78	84.0	31	42	0.4	61.5	1296	3337
2016	0.565	61.1	10.3	42.3	4.67	84.0	35	41	0.4	61.3	1239	3313
2017	0.570	61.6	12.2	42.7	4.57	83.5	40	39	0.5	61.0	1483	3392
2018	0.575	62.1	14.3	43.1	4.49	83.8	40	38	0.5	60.8	1464	3442
2019	0.578	62.9	14.5	43.5	4.42	86.1	43	36	0.5	60.5	1259	3361
2020	0.578	63.4	14.7	43.9	4.32	85.4	45	36	0.5	60.3	952	3157
2021	0.574	62.4	14.8	44.2	4.25	83.0	47	36	0.5	60.0	1127	3503
2022	0.589	65.3	15.0	44.6	4.18	—	48	35	0.5	59.8	1447	3840
2023	0.595	66.3	16.4	45.0	4.10	—	51	35	0.6	59.5	1331	4080
2024	—	66.5	17.1	45.5	4.04	—	54	35	0.5	—	1187	4221
2025	—	—	—	45.9	—	—	—	—	—	—	1318	4379
On the profile	0.595	66.5	17.1	45.9	4.04	83.0	—	—	0.5	59.5	1318	4379

Sources: HDI: UNDP HDR 2025; Life expectancy at birth: World Bank SP.DYN.LE00.IN; Internet users: World Bank IT.NET.USER.ZS; Urban population: World Bank SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS; Births per woman: World Bank SP.DYN.TFRT.IN; Renewable share of energy: World Bank EG.FEC.RNEW.ZS; Access to electricity: World Bank EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS; Infant mortality: World Bank SP.DYN.IMRT.IN; CO2 emissions per person: World Bank EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5; Forest area: World Bank AG.LND.FRST.ZS; GDP per capita: World Bank NY.GDP.PCAP.CD; GDP per capita, PPP: World Bank NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD. Profile snapshot from the site dataset regenerated 2026-10-04. Observed years only.

A dotted value moved sharply against the previous observed value in its series, which is the usual signature of a series break or a source revision; it is a prompt to check, not a judgement. The last row, On the profile, is the figure the country profile shows today, set under its series so the two can be checked against each other. ≠ marks a difference of more than 2%: none on this page.

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