Human Development Indices and Indicators: 2018 Statistical Update

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The report shows that the overall trend globally is toward continued human development improvement. Out of the 189 countries for which the Human Development Index is calculated, 59 countries are today in the very high human development group and only 38 countries fall in the low HDI group. Just eight years ago in 2010, the figures were 46 and 49 countries respectively. Today on average people are living longer, are more educated and have greater income than ever before.

Yet progress in closing the gaps in human development is still slow. Significant inequalities in health, education and other key aspects of life persist - impacting people today and undermining the lives of tomorrow.

Nepal’s HDI value for 2017 is 0.574— which put the country in the medium human development category—positioning it at 149 out of 189 countries and territories. Between 1990 and 2017, Nepal’s HDI value increased from 0.378 to 0.574, an increase of 51.9 percent.

As we know, an important challenge for Nepal are the strong inequalities affecting the country. The Report confirms this indicating that Nepal loses 25% of its human development results due to these inequalities, as shown by the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index.