The HDI is an average measure of basic human development achievements in a country. Like all
averages, the HDI masks inequality in the distribution of human development across the population at the
country level. The 2010 HDR introduced the Inequality-Adjusted HDI (IHDI), which takes into account
inequality in all three dimensions of the HDI by ‘discounting’ each dimension’s average value according to
its level of inequality. The IHDI is basically the HDI discounted for inequalities. The ‘loss’ in human
development due to inequality is given by the difference between the HDI and the IHDI, and can be
expressed as a percentage. As the inequality in a country increases, the loss in human development also