Iceland has replaced Norway on the top of the Human Development Index. The index is a part of UNDP´s Human Development Report, which was launched in Brussels 6 May.
All of the Nordic countries are among the world´s most advanced countries. Norway is second on the list ex-aequo with Switzerland, Denmark is fourth, Sweden shares the fifth place with Germany and Finland is number thirteen.
The Human Development Report analyses development progress across a range of indicators known as the Human Development Index (HDI), which encompasses achievements in health and education, along with levels of income.
193 countries and territories are analysed. Australia, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Belgium are number seven to ten on the list. The UK shares number 13 with Finland, the USA is number 17 and France 26.
The countries with least human development are according to the index the Central African Republic, Somalia and South Sudan.
Human Development progress slows to a 35-year low
Human development progress is experiencing an unprecedented slowdown according to the report.
Instead of seeing sustained recovery following the period of exceptional crises of 2020-2021, the report reveals unexpectedly weak progress. Excluding those crisis years, the meagre rise in global human development projected in this year’s report is the smallest increase since 1990.
The report also finds widening inequalities between rich and poor countries. As traditional paths to development are squeezed by global pressures, decisive action is needed to move the world away from prolonged stagnation on progress.
“For decades, we have been on track to reach a very high human development world by 2030, but this deceleration signals a very real threat to global progress,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator.
“If 2024’s sluggish progress becomes ‘the new normal’, that 2030 milestone could slip by decades – making our world less secure, more divided, and more vulnerable to economic and ecological shocks.”
