The Human Capital Index 2020 update: human capital in the time of COVID-19

The Human Capital Index (HCI), launched in 2018, is an international metric that benchmarks key components of human capital across economies. Human capital consists of the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lives. The index incorporates measures of different dimensions of human capital: health (child survival, stunting, and adult survival rates) and the quantity and quality of schooling (expected years of school and international test scores). The HCI uses global estimates of the economic returns to education and health to create an integrated index that captures the expected productivity of a child born today as a future worker, relative to a benchmark, the same for all countries, of complete education and full health. This report accompanies the release of 2020 data on the HCI and provides a snapshot of the state of human capital before [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 and a baseline to track its impact.

COVID-19 struck at a time when the world was healthier and more educated than ever. Yet data presented in this report reveal that substantial human capital shortfalls and equity gaps existed before the crisis. Gaps in human capital remain especially deep in low-income economies and those affected by violence, armed conflict, and institutional fragility. Women continue to be at a substantial disadvantage in many dimensions of human capital that are not captured by the HCI's components, including participation in economic life. The report highlights how better measurement is essential for policy makers to design effective interventions and target support. In the immediate term, investments in better measurement and data use can inform pandemic containment strategies and support for those who are most affected. In the medium term, better curation and use of administrative, survey, and identification data can guide policy choices in an environment of limited fiscal space and competing priorities.

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