Nigerias HDI rises by 2 points in latest UNDP report
News & Trends •
key regional development trends as shown by the hdi and other human development indices showed that sub-saharan africa region has seen a 35 per cent growth in hdi since 19901 a new report byunited nations development programme undp has shown nigerias human development index rising by two points and life expectancy also rising by eight years1 the news agency of nigeria nan reports that the hdi report showed that nigerias hdi value for 2017 was 0.532. it was 0.530 in 2016. and it has shown a consistent increase since the measurement began in 2003. from that base year when the hdi was estimated at 0.443 it has now increased to 0.532 in 2017 marking a 14.4 per cent over the period1 the countrys life expectancy at birth was also put at 53.9 years while between 1990 and 2017 nigerias life expectancy at birth has increased by 8.0 years the report showed1 but overallnigerias ranking did not change from 157th out of the 189 countries sampled1 there are other good news in the report. years of schooling increased by one year and expected years of schooling increased by 3.3 years according to the report1 nigerias gross national income gni per capita increased by about 87.4 percent between 1990 and 2017 the undp report showed1 the report put nigerias population at 190.1 million in 2017 while the countrys projected population in 2030 is 264.1 million1 norway switzerland australia ireland and germany led the ranking of 189 countries and territories in the latest hdi and with the exceptions of 2007 and 2008 norway has topped the hdi chart every year since 20011 however niger the central african republic south sudan chad and burundi have the lowest scores in the hdis measurement of national achievements in health education and income with niger at the lowest for several years1 a child born today in norway could expect to live beyond 82 years old and spend almost 18 years in school while a child born in niger could expect only to live to 60 and spend just five years in school1 the hdi criteria are designed to be broad enough to be inclusive of countries social political and economic diversity while being indicative of a countrys quality of life1 the report measured national achievements in human development index in health education and incomestandard of living in 187 countries. nigerias rising population put at 190 million appears to be a drag in the index computations1 rwanda ranked highest country in the world with most women in parliament. the country has held the top spot since 2008 with the women holding more than half the seats in the parliament1 out of the 189 countries for which the hdi is calculated 59 countries are in the very high human development group and only 38 countries fall in the low hdi group1 while no african country is in the very high human development rank six african countries are now in the high human development group. the countries are the small island nations ofseychelles 0.797 62 mauritius 0.790 65 algeria algeria 0.75485 botswana 0.717 101 libya 0.706 108 and gabon 0.702 110. the surprise entry is libya despite the ravaging wars in the country. fourteen countries in the region are now in the medium human development group. they are south africa 113 0.699 egypt 115 0.696 mo1 others are ghana 140 0.592 equatorial guinea 141 0.591 kenya 142 0.590 sao tome and principe 143 0.589 kingdom of e-swatini 144 0.588 zambia 144 0.588 angola 147 0.581 and cameroon 151 0.5561 in the low human development group countries that ranked higher than nigeria are tanzania 154 0.538 and zimbabwe 156 0.535. nigeria followed at 157 0.5321 nigeria was rated better than senegal164th ivory coast 170th rwanda158th lesotho159th mauritania159th madagascar161st uganda162nd benin163rd togo165th. djibouti ethiopia gambia guinea congo dr guinea bissau mozambique liberia. others rated lower to nigeria are mali burkina faso sierra leone eritrea niger burundi chad south sudan central africa republic1 at 101 per 1000 live births sub-saharan africas adolescent birth rate is more than twice the world average of 44 per 1000 live births1 while sub-saharan africas maternal mortality ratio is 549 deaths per 100000 live births some countries in the region such as cape verde have achieved a much lower rateof 42 deaths per 100000 live births1 the un said while health education and income levels have improved overall across the globe wide inequalities both among and within countries are casting a shadow on sustained human development1 while these statistics present a stark picture in themselves they also speak to the tragedy of millions of individuals whose lives are affected by inequity and lost opportunities neither of which are inevitable said achim steiner the administrator of undp1 inequality in all its forms and dimensions between and within countries limits peoples choices and opportunities withholding progress explained selim jahan director of the human development report office at undp1