Human Development Index and Gross Domestic Product: A Closer Look at the Founding OPEC Nations

It is often assumed that economic gains bring about improvements in the quality of life of a nation’s citizens. In 2010, a study examining a bloc of countries located in Southeast Asia sought to investigate that assumption. That study, completed by Shome and Tondon, found that a weak, positive correlation between quality of life gains and economic gains existed in the countries they studied. This current study aims to replicate Shome and Tondon’s analysis of quality of life (as determined by the Human Development Index) and economic growth (GDP), but it will examine the five founding members of OPEC: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. The countries are examined as a conglomerate, and then they are further studied as individuals. The findings are that a high, positive correlation exists between quality of life and economic growth in the OPEC countries as a conglomerate. This holds true for each of the countries within the bloc, with the exception of Kuwait. Further study is directed to investigate the causation and scale of each country’s individual gains in quality of life