Human Development Index: Bangladesh ranks 129th again, remains ahead of India, Pakistan

Infographics: TBS

Bangladesh ranks 129th again in the latest Human Development Index (HDI) placing the country in the "Medium Human Development" category, according to a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released Wednesday (13 March).

The country was ranked the same among 193 countries the previous report. Though Bangladesh's HDI improved in health and standard of living, it lost HDI value in some inequality markers. However, Bangladesh still ranks higher than India and Pakistan.

India ranked 134th and Pakistan 164th in the HDI. Though India was categorised among the "Medium human development" countries, Pakistan was put in the "Low human development category."

Sri Lanka ranking 78th in 2022 is the best in the region even after dropping 5 notches in the global ranking from 73rd position in the previous year. Bhutan came at third in the region, ranked 125th globally.

The HDI is a summary measure for assessing average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living.

The 2023/24 Human Development Report (HDR) titled "Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarised world," revealed that Bangladesh's HDI value for 2022 has increased marginally to 0.670 from 0.662 in 2021, despite holding the same rank. Though the country's HDI value was higher than the South Asian average of 0.641, it was far behind the global average of 0.739.

Bangladesh's HDI value improved owing to an increase in health and standard of living dimensions but the education dimension saw no progress. 

The health dimension is assessed by life expectancy at birth, education by the mean of years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and more and expected years of schooling for children of school-entering age and standard of living by gross national income (GNI) per capita.

Bangladesh's life expectancy at birth has increased by 1.3 years since 2021, reaching 73.7 years for 2022. GNI per capita improved to $6,511 for 2022 based on 2017's purchasing power parity term increasing from $6,221 in 2021, however, for education, it still remains at 7.4 years and 11.9 years respectively for 2022. 

Meanwhile, with an HDI value of 0.967, Switzerland retained its top position in the 2022 index, followed by Norway (0.966), Iceland (0.959), Hong Kong (0.956), and Denmark (0.952), making up the top 5 spots.

Somalia, South Sudan and the Central African Republic ranked at the bottom of the index with HDI values of 0.380, 0.381 and 0.387 respectively.

How inequality hurts human development in Bangladesh

The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) adjusts the HDI for inequality in the distribution of three basic dimensions: inequality in life expectancy, inequality in education and inequality in income across the population. 

The 'loss' in human development due to inequality is given by the difference between the HDI and the IHDI. As the inequality in a country increases, the loss in human development also increases.

"Bangladesh's loss due to inequality is 29.9%, which lowers the HDI to 0.470 in 2022," read the report. 

However, Bangladesh's overall loss to inequality has decreased from 30.2% in 2021 thanks to inequality in life expectancy decreasing from 15.5% in 2021 to 14.1% in 2022. While the inequality in education remained the same (37.3%), inequality in income has increased from 35.7% to 35.9%.

Rich countries attain record human development, but half of the poorest regress

The report also revealed that rich countries are experiencing record-high levels of human development while half of the world's poorest countries remain below their pre-crisis level of progress.

Uneven development progress is leaving the poorest behind, exacerbating inequality, and stoking political polarisation on a global scale, reads a press release.

Following an unprecedented dip due to the Covid-19 pandemic and economic turmoil, the HDI in Asia and the Pacific rebounded to pre-pandemic values in 2022, but this should not be interpreted as a complete recovery. 

Inequality within countries continued to be a worrying trend. South Asia's loss in the HDI due to inequality is among the highest in the world (after sub-Saharan Africa), followed by the Pacific.

"The widening human development gap revealed by the report shows that the two-decade trend of steadily reducing inequalities between wealthy and poor nations is now in reverse. Despite our deeply interconnected global societies, we are falling short. We must leverage our interdependence as well as our capacities to address our shared and existential challenges and ensure people's aspirations are met," said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Development Programme.

"This gridlock carries a significant human toll. The failure of collective action to advance action on climate change, digitalisation or poverty and inequality not only hinders human development but also worsens polarisation and further erodes trust in people and institutions worldwide," he added.