Our granular dataset offers a dramatically different view of human development around the world, uncovering the true depth and breadth of progress in places previously obscured by country averages.

We start the story uncovered by McKinsey Global Institute’s latest research on human development in Mapusa, a small town along a historic trade route in the Indian state of Goa, and in Porto, the second largest city in Portugal. Both places had virtually the same GDP per capita of $33,000 in 2019. 1

At the country level, they are worlds apart: India’s GDP per capita was $6,700 in 2019, compared to $34,900 in Portugal—overall more than five times less.