We will analyze and summarize, in a simple way, the United Nations report on the Human Development Index (HDI). We compared the Human Development Index in Portugal with that of 4 countries.
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Table of Contents
In addition to the indicators produced by the OECD, with regard to the progress and social development, which we mentioned earlier, we will also analyze the report of the United Nations 2019. This document establishes the classification of countries in relation to a composition of indicators that are linked to the Human Development Index.
The Human Development Index in Portugal and other countries
This HDI ranking is released by the United Nations Development Program (PNUP).
Measured annually, the HDI ranges from 0 to 1 and, the higher, the more developed the country is.
The PNUP Human Development Report ranks the ten countries with the highest Human Development Index, in that order: Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia, Iceland, Sweden, Singapore and the Netherlands.
The USA appears 15th and Spain 25th.
Portugal is in the 40th position among countries with “very high human development”.
The range that determines “very high human development” is between the values of 1 and 0,800 of the HDI.
The Human Development Index also classifies countries as “high”, between 0,799 and 0,700, “medium”, between 0,699 and 0,550 and “low”, if it is less than 0,549.
The HDI in Portuguese Speaking Countries
Brazil is among the countries with high human development, according to the classification of this United Nations report, in position 79.
Classified as Countries with average human development are Cape Verde in 126th position, East Timor, 131st, S. Tomé and Príncipe 137th and Angola in 149th.
Guinea Bissau and Mozambique are among the countries with the lowest human development, in the 178th and 180th positions, respectively.
The Indicators used in the Human Development Index
Previously, human development was measured by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. However, it appears that a country may have this indicator very high and there are great social inequalities.
The PNUP considered some indicators to determine the HDI. Some of them are:
Life Expectancy at Birth (80,4 years at OECD)
Expected Years of Schooling (16,3 years at OECD)
Average years of schooling (12,0 years at OECD)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita (US $ 40.615 in the OECD)
The Human Development Index adjusted to Inequality
Despite the progress that has been made against poverty, hunger, disease and social inequality remain a serious problem.
UNDP created the human development index “adjusted to inequalities” that aims to measure the imbalance in the distribution of income.
Inequalities continue to occur in education, in the use of technologies, in climate change, in freedom and in the search for justice.
In many places in the world, inequality begins with life expectancy at birth. In OECD countries it is 80,4 years and in the world it is 72,6 years.
The country with the lowest human development index, Nigeria, has 62 years of life expectancy at birth.
In this assessment, Portugal has an adjusted HDI of 0,742, which makes it go down 6 positions in the ranking, to position 46.
The Report also highlights indicators of wealth distribution among the population, the poorest 40%, the richest 10% and the richest 1%.
In Portugal, only 18,7% of the wealth produced reaches 40% of the poorest, with 7,4% of the wealth held by 1% of the richest.
Gender Inequality
To assess gender inequality, the Report publishes the Gender Development Index, with the same HDI indicators, but by sex.
Thus, the Human Development Index in Portugal is 0,843 for women and 0,856 for men. A smaller difference than that existing in the OECD, making the Gender Development Index at 0,984, better than the OECD average of 0,976.
Life expectancy at birth was 84,7 in women and 78,8 in men.
As for income, there is a big difference, in women with US $ 23.627 and in men with US $ 32.738, a difference of US $ 9.111, that is, 38%.
See also:
- Evolution of the human development index (HDI) in Portugal
- Well-being and quality of life index
- Situation of gender inequality in Portugall
United Nations Human Development Report
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