Ghana maintains 135th position in 2013 UNDP Human Development Report

…country’s life expectancy rate increases

Ghana maintained its ranking in the 2013 Human Development Index (HDI) released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) March 14, 2013.

Ghana ranked 135th out 186 countries the report captured, and the country’s rate of life expectancy at birth rose to 64.6 years of the entire population. In the last edition of the Index in 2011, Ghana’s life expectancy was 64.2 years.

Titled “Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World”, the 2013 HDI report showed major gains since 2000 in most countries of the South.

According to the UNDP, more than 40 developing countries have made greater human development gains in recent decades than would have been predicted.

The HDI was introduced in the UNDP report as an alternative to conventional measures of national development, such as level of income and the rate of economic growth. The HDI represents a push for a broader definition of well-being and provides a composite measure of three basic dimensions of human development: health, education and income.

Among the medium development countries in the Index, Ghana’s HDI was valued at 0.558 compared to the globally ranked number one, Norway’s 0.955.

The UNDP said between 1980 and 2012, Ghana’s HDI rose by 0.9% annually from 0.391 to 0.558.

“The HDI of sub-Saharan Africa as a region increased from 0.366 in 1980 to 0.475 today, placing Ghana above the regional average,” the UN agency added.

Norway, Australia and the United States led the rankings, while DR Congo and drought-stricken Niger had the lowest scores.

The report was launched in Mexico City by UNDP Administrator Helen Clark and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.

By Ekow Quandzie

Check Ghana’s Human Development Indicators