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Data Release Information Sheet
Data Summary
Dataset name: Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 (GBD 2021) Socio-Demographic Index (SDI) 1950–
2021
Date of release: May 16, 2024
Summary:
The Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 (GBD 2021), coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics
and Evaluation (IHME), estimated the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors for 204 countries and
territories and selected subnational locations.
Developed by GBD researchers and used to help produce these estimates, the Socio-demographic Index
(SDI) is a composite indicator of development status strongly correlated with health outcomes. It is the
geometric mean of 0 to 1 indices of total fertility rate under the age of 25 (TFU25), mean education for
those ages 15 and older (EDU15+), and lag distributed income (LDI) per capita. As a composite, a
location with an SDI of 0 would have a theoretical minimum level of development relevant to health,
while a location with an SDI of 1 would have a theoretical maximum level.
This dataset provides tables with SDI values for all estimated GBD 2021 locations for 1950–2021, as well
as 2021 location quintile and reference SDI quintile values.
Acknowledgements
Contributing organizations:
• Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network
Funders:
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)
Suggested Citation:
Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network. Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 (GBD 2021)
Socio-Demographic Index (SDI) 1950–2021. Seattle, United States of America: Institute for Health
Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), 2024.
