Sri Lanka tops South Asia in human development index 2017

Sept 18, 2018 (LBO) - Sri Lanka has been classified under the “High Human Development” category, with a Human Development Index value of 0.770 , and ranked 76 out of 189 countries in 2017, a statement said. Between 1990 and 2017, Sri Lanka’s HDI value increased from 0.625 to 0.770, an increase of 23.2 percent. The HDI’s measure national achievements in health, education and income and are calculated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Between 1990 and 2017, Sri Lanka’s life expectancy at birth increased by 6.0 years, mean years of schooling increased by 2.5 years and expected years of schooling increased by 2.6 years. Sri Lanka’s GNI per capita increased by about 215.8 percent between 1990 and 2017. South Asia has experienced the fastest HDI growth among developing regions with a 45.3 percent increase since 1990.

Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland and Germany lead the ranking of 189 countries and territories in the latest rankings, while Niger, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Chad and Burundi have the lowest scores.

The overall trend globally is toward continued human development improvements, with many countries moving up through the human development categories: out of the 189 countries for which the HDI is calculated, 59 countries are today in the very high human development group and only 38 countries fall in the low HDI group.

Just eight years ago in 2010, the figures were 46 and 49 countries respectively.

Ireland enjoyed the highest increase in HDI rank between 2012 and 2017 moving up 13 places, while Turkey, the Dominican Republic and Botswana were also developing strongly, each moving up eight places.

All three steepest declines in human development ranking were countries in conflict: the Syrian Arab Republic had the largest decrease in HDI rank, falling 27 places, followed by Libya (26 places), and Yemen (20 places).

Movements in the HDI are driven by changes in health, education and income.

Health has improved considerably as shown by life expectancy at birth which has increased by almost seven years globally, with Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia showing the greatest progress, each experiencing increases of about 11 years since 1990.