In the expected average schooling there were no changes with regard to 2013

Uruguay gained two positions in the Human Development Index (HDI) presented yesterday in the 2014 annual report of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The country moved from position 52 in 2013 to 50 this year in a ranking of 187 countries. Uruguay also leads the ranking of countries with high human development, although in the region it is still surpassed by Argentina (49) and Chile (41), both located in the high human development tier. Uruguay’s progress in the survey was basically explained by an improvement in an HDI sub-index caused by the economy’s evolution. In particular, in this year’s measurement Uruguay ended with a gross income per capita of US$ 18,108, whereas in 2013 it was of US$ 13,333.

However, in the rest of the sub-indexes, the country remained stable with regard to the previous measurement. Life expectancy at birth reported no changes in 77.2 years, just like the average years of schooling (5.5) and the expected years of schooling (15.5). The HDI trend of evolution between 1980 and 2013 showed a steady improvement in this indicator for Uruguay.

According to the summary released yesterday by the UNDP, the human development level continues to grow globally, «although in all regions of the planet the pace of growth has diminished and progress has been very irregular.»

In this respect, despite global achievements in terms of human development, in every region the growth rate was lower during the period between 2008 and 2013, if compared with the 2000 – 2008 period. In Asia and the Pacific region, the Arab States and Latin America and the Caribbean, the HDI average annual growth rate decreased by 50% approximately, if both periods are compared. Moreover, income inequality has increased in many regions, including countries with very high human development. «Even though Latin America and the Caribbean recorded the biggest drop in overall inequality during this year, it maintains the highest level of income inequality in the world,» warned UNDP.