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UN report rates Belarus among countries with high human development index

Belarus is among countries with a high level of human development, according the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)'s Human Development Index report that was released last week, BelaPAN said.

According to the UN press office, the report contains data on living standards, social protection, health, education, cultural development, crime rate, environmental protection and participation of people in decision-making processes.

Norway, Australia, the United States, the Netherlands and Germany top the list of countries with a very high human development index.

Belarus was rated by the UN 50th in the world on the Human Development Index. It had the fourth highest spot among the 15 post-Soviet countries, trailing only Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.

Burkina Faso, Chad, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Niger propped up the bottom of the list.

The UNDP publishes its report every year since 1990. The report is drawn up by a group of independent experts and is based on various analytical data and international statistics.

This year the authors emphasized the fast pace of the development of Southern countries. In particular, they noted the economic boom in China and India which had practically doubled their production volumes per capita for the past 20 years. Both were listed among countries with a medium human development index.

The report also said that the United States remained the largest economy in the world and was not likely to be replaced by any other country in the near future. The experts noted that if the US economy were to be slow at reestablishing its positions after the recent global economic crisis, it would be hard for European countries to overcome the current economic and social problems.