Brazil ranks 84th in world’s human development index

According to a report published Tuesday (Dec. 15) by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Brazil has lost five positions in the world ranking the human development index (HDI), sinking from 79th to 84th among 189 countries. Brazil’s HDI went from 0.762 in 2018 to 0.765 in 2019.

The data, UNDP stated, do not reflect the impact of the pandemic of the novel coronavirus. The index gauges health care, education, and living standards across countries. Atop the list stands Norway (0,957). The lowest rates is that of Niger (0.394), in the African continent.

The country has slid two positions and its HDI came sixth among the 12 countries in Latin America. In the region, Brazil scores below Chile (0.851), Argentina (0.845), Uruguay (0.817), Peru (0.777), and Colombia (0.767).

Environment

In 2020, UNDP is unveiling an experimental variation of the HDI to incorporate two other elements—carbon dioxide emissions and the amount of natural resources used in countries’ productive chains, proportional to their population.

The new index shows the transformation that could occur in the development field if people’s well-being and the planet’s integrity are jointly considered for the definition of human progress. The new indicator is dubbed “planetary pressures-adjusted human development index,” or PHDI.

Considering the planet’s pressure (PHDI), Brazil ranks 74th. In the case of Norway, which leads the HDI ranking with 0.957, while adjusting to the PHDI, the country drops 15 positions. The US falls 45 positions, and Germany just one. On the other hand, countries like Costa Rica, Moldova, and Panama, went up at least 30 positions.