Bangladesh improves in Human Development Index

Bangladesh has gained three spots on the Global Human Development Index (HDI) 2015 ranking, placing 139th out of 188 countries, according to the Human Development Report (HDR) 2016.

HDR 2016 was officially launched at the Planning Commission in Dhaka on Wednesday by the General Economics Division, the Planning Commission and the United Nations Development Program.

According to the annual report, Bangladesh is considered a ‘medium development country’ and achieved an HDI value of 0.579 in 2015. The latest figure continues the upward trend for Bangladesh’s HDI, which stood at 0545 in 2010, 0.468 in 2000 and 0.386 in 1990.

Bangladesh’s average annual HDI growth rate from 1990-2015 also compares favourably to all other South Asian countries, coming in at 1.64 percent. India’s, for comparison, was 1.52 percent.

“Life expectancy at birth in Bangladesh stood at 72 years, expected years of schooling at 10.2 years, mean years of schooling 5.2 years, gross national income (GNI) per capita $ 3,341,” reads HDR 2016.

Bangladesh’s HDR ranking, however, is still fifth among South Asian nations, behind Sri Lanka at 73, Maldives at 105, India at 131 and Bhutan at 132.

“Bangladesh has shown tremendous progress in human development over the last two decades,” said Chief Guest and Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal during the launch event. “Our average annual growth of HDI is better than any other countries in South Asia. Our social indicators shows that we are doing better in health, education, life expectancy at birth while our per capita income is increasing.”

The view was echoed by State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, Principal Coordinator for SDG Affairs at Prime Minister’s Office Abul Kalam Azad and GED Senior Secretary Dr Shamsul Alam.

“Bangladesh has done tremendous jobs in achieving MDGs and we are taking all-out preparation to successfully implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also,” said Abul Kalam Azad.

“Bangladesh is marching forward unabated both in economic and social fronts. We are graduating from a least developed country to a newly developing nation,” said Dr Shamsul Alam.

However, Dr Selim Jahan, the lead author of HDR 2016, cautioned against too much attention on national averages.

“In order to further advance, we need to examine more closely not just what has been achieved, but also who has been excluded and why,” he said while presenting the report.

UNDP Bangladesh Country Director Sudipto Mukerjee also raised questions as to who is left out of the process and how and why it happened.

The HDI is defined as “a measure for assessing progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and access to decent standard living.”

Norway (0.949) topped the HDR 2016 list, while Central African Republic (0.352) brought up the rear.