Lanka, highest rank in UNDP index

Sri Lanka has been ranked as the country with highest human development in the South Asia region in the UNDP Human Development Report – 2014 released recently in Tokyo.

Sri Lanka is ranked at the 73rd position of Human Development Index (HDI) with 0.750 index value in 2013 and the position has improved by two compared to 2012.

Under HDI ranking Sri Lanka is in the high development category and is the only South Asian country in the category. The Maldives ranked at 103, India 135 and Bhutan 136 are in the medium development countries category while Afghanistan ranked at 169, Bangladesh 149, Pakistan 146 and Nepal 145 are in the low development category.

HDI measures changes in the human development indicators such as life expectancy, education levels, income, health and nutrition indicators and gender equality and compares it across 187 countries and it is a UNDP annual flagship publication since 1990.

According to this year's report, the top five countries in the index or the first five countries in the very high HDI category are Norway (0.944) Australia (0.933), Switzerland (0.971), the Netherlands (0.915) and the US (0.914). The bottom five countries in this ranking are Niger (0.337), Democratic Republic of Congo (0.338), Central African Republic (0.341), Chad (0.372) and Sierra Leone (0.374).

The theme of this year's report is sustaining human progress; reducing vulnerabilities and building resilience.

The Report shows that overall global trends are positive and that progress is continuing. Yet, lives are being lost, and livelihoods and development undermined, by natural or human-induced disasters and crises.

However, these setbacks are not inevitable. While every society is vulnerable to risk, some suffer far less harm and recover more quickly than others when adversity strikes.

The report asked why that is and, for the first time in a global HDR, considers vulnerability and resilience through a human development lens. The report gave a range of socio economic indicators used in this ranking based on 2013 statistics.