Kazakhstan holds 78th position in UN human development report

Norway leads the top five countries with a high level of human development in 2004, followed by Sweden, Australia, Canada, and Netherlands. Such is an estimation given by UN specialists in the annual human development report for 2004, KZ-today has learned from a report published at the official UN website.

USA and Japan hold the 8th and 9th positions. All CIS member countries have a medium development level. Russia crawled up by 6 positions against the last year and took the 57th place out of 177. Belarus fell by 9 positions taking the 62nd place. Last year Belarus was among the states with a high level of incomes. Ukraine raised by 5 positions taking the 70th place, Kazakhstan - the 78th, Armenia - the 82nd, Turkmenistan - the 86th, Azerbaijan - the 91st, Georgia - the 97th, Uzbekistan - the 107th, Kyrgyzstan - the 110th, and Tajikistan - the 116th positions.

The report observes that Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia still remain among the countries with a high human development level occupying correspondingly the 36th, 41st, and 50th positions.

The list of 177 states is closed by Burkina Faso, Niger, and Sierra-Leone - countries with the lowest human potential development.

The main human development indices by which the rating of the states was defined are the following - life expectancy, GDP per head (according to the parity of purchasing capability), and the level of literacy. When the rating was defined such factors were taken into consideration as freedom, human dignity, and possibilities to participate in social life.