List of districts in Tamil Nadu by Human Development Index

List of districts in Tamil Nadu by Human Development Index by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) methodology as of 2017.[8][7]

Rank	District	HDI for 2017	Comparable country[4]
Very high human development
1	Kanyakumari	0.944	Switzerland
2	Virudhunagar	0.855	Slovakia
3	Thoothukudi	0.852	Hungary
4	Chennai	0.859	Andorra
5	Kancheepuram	0.845	Bahrain
6	Coimbatore	0.844	Brunei
7	Tirunelveli	0.802	Malaysia
8	Thiruvallur	0.801	Seychelles
High human development
9	Krishnagiri	0.788	Albania
10	Trichy	0.784	Georgia
11	Vellore	0.750	Ukraine
12	Nammakkal	0.764	Thailand
13	Cuddalore	0.745	Dominican Republic
14	Dindigul	0.735	Mongolia
15	Madurai	0.777	Cuba
16	Sivaganga	0.733	Mongolia
17	Salem	0.762	Grenada
18	Karur	0.785	Georgia
19	Thanjavur	0.754	Azerbaijan
20	Ramanathapuram	0.737	Tunisia}
21	Dharmapuri	0.706	Samoa
22	Pudukottai	0.738	Tunisia
23	Tiruppur	0.767	Mexico
24	The Nilgiris	0.767
25	Erode	0.755	China
26	Nagapattiam	0.777	Cuba
27	Tiruvannamalai	0.721	Jordan
28	Thiruvarur	0.743	Saint Lucia
29	Villuparam	0.710	Turkmenistan
30	Theni	0.726	Jamaica
31	Ariyalur	0.712	Philippines
32	Perambalur	0.703	Indonesia
	Tamil Nadu	0.708	Turkmenistan

Human Development Index of Indian states since 1995 by the State Planning Commission of Tamil Nadu (1995-2017)[8][7][1][3][9][2][10]

Compared with the previous Tamil Nadu's Human Development Reports by the state planning commission and the latest district-level government statistical report, Tamil Nadu has significantly improved its HDI in all of its administrative subdivisions.

The decline of the poverty rate has been very significant for Tamil Nadu, that it takes much of the pain to the political criticism against the Dravidian parties about corruption in the administration. The substantial reduction in urban and rural poverty at a huge level since the economic improvements of the 1990s, shows that poverty reduction and social well-being programmes have brought in rising incomes for the poor.[6]

Kanyakumari is the district with the highest Human Development Index in the report of 2017. Kanyakumari also has the highest literacy rate in the state, this can also be attributed to the role of the church in the education and medical fields. The district has a large Christian population comprising 46% of the population. Ariyalur has the lowest HDI in the 2017 report. Thoothukudi, with high life expectancy and high literacy rate, is in the top five districts.[7] Ariyalur and Perambalur, due to its Per capita income being so low, came in the bottom five.[7] Coimbatore, in spite of its high degree of industrialisation and Per capita income, does not rank in the top five districts with high Human Development Index in the report of 2017.[6][5]

The previous report of 2003 showed that Chennai, Kancheepuram, Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi and Coimbatore were the top five districts. Though the two sets of reports are not strictly comparable given the separation of some districts between the two time points, some relative observations are made. According to the latest report, Kanyakumari has reached the top position, while Coimbatore does not even figure in the top five. The new entrant in the top five district category is Virudhunagar in the latest Human development report. Virudhunagar's rise to the top has been primarily due to its relatively higher per capita income which in turn can be connected to the spread of small scale industries, and a vibrant agricultural marketing economy. The five districts in the bottom of the previous report are Perambalur, Villupuram, Dharmapuri, Tirunelveli and Pudukottai. Many of these districts have been separated, but Perambalur and Villupuram continue to be at the bottom. Theni has newly entered into the bottom five.[6][5][7]