The HDI is a composite of statistics measuring such factors as per capita income, educational attainment and life expectancy

Agencies

New York: ( app) Pakistan was ranked at 161st position among 191 countries on UN’s 2022/23 Human Development Index (HDI)’s annual rankings – three steps up from the 2021/22 ranking, according to a new UN Development Programme (UNDP) report.

The HDI is a composite of statistics measuring such factors as per capita income, educational attainment and life expectancy.

In the last (2021/22) HDI ranking, Pakistan was placed at 164, amid global fall in development set off by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first UNDP Human Development Report (HDR) was prepared and launched in 1990 under the leadership of the late Dr Mahbubul Haq, a former Pakistan finance minister.

The latest report, ‘Breaking the gridlock’, revealed widening disparities between the haves and the have-nots, despite record high global human development scores in 2023.

The 2023 HDI stands at a new high following steep decline during 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said.

Rich countries experienced unprecedented development, the Human Development Report details, yet half of the world’s poorest nations continue to languish below their pre-COVID crisis levels.

India ranked at 132nd on the HDI index; Sri Lanka: 73rd; Bangladesh: 129th; Maldives: 90; Nepal: 143; Bhutan 127 and Afghanistan 180.

Switzerland tops this year’s rankings, followed by Norway and Iceland, while Central African Republic (CAR), South Sudan and Somalia lagged the furthest behind.

“The widening human development gap revealed by the report shows that the two-decade trend of steadily reducing inequalities between wealthy and poor nations is now in reverse,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.

“Despite our deeply interconnected global societies, we are falling short. We must leverage our interdependence as well as our capacities to address our shared and existential challenges and ensure people’s aspirations are met,” he added, noting a significant human toll behind the statistics.