Guyana ranks 108th of 191 on Human Development Index

…now moves to high human development country

Guyana’s Human Development Index (HDI) value for 2021 is 0.714— which puts the country in the high human development category—positioning it at 108 out of 191 countries and territories.

This is according to the Human Development Report 2021/2022.
The report themed: “Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping Our Future in a Transforming World,” was released on Friday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living.
The 2021/2022 report explained that between 1990 and 2021, Guyana’s HDI value changed from 0.509 to 0.714—a change of 40.3 per cent.
Between 1990 and 2021, Guyana’s life expectancy at birth changed by 3.3 years, mean years of schooling changed by 3.3 years, and expected years of schooling changed by 2.8 years. Guyana’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita changed by about 996.3 per cent between 1990 and 2021.
Guyana has an average life expectancy of 65.7 years, an average of 12.5 expected years of schooling, and a Gross National Income of 22,465 per capita expressed in constant 2017 international dollars, converted using purchasing power parity (PPP) rates.
The 2021/2022 report acknowledges the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic, now in its third year, has had on the world, and its continued spin-off with new variants. It noted that the war in Ukraine reverberates throughout the world, causing immense human suffering, including a cost-of-living crisis, before adding that climate and ecological disasters threaten the world daily.
Also measured is the Gender Inequality Index (GII)—which reflects the loss in human development due to inequality between female and male achievements—in three key dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment, and labour market.
Reproductive health is measured by maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rates; empowerment is measured by the shares of parliamentary seats held and population with at least some secondary education by each gender, and labour market participation is measured by the labour force participation rates for women and men.  According to the most recent Human Development Report, Guyana has a GII value of 0.454, ranking it 114 out of 170 countries in 2021. In Guyana, 35.7 per cent of the parliamentary seats are held by females and 64.3 per cent by males. A total of 69.5 per cent of females have attained at least secondary level education compared to 62.2 per cent of males. The Maternal Mortality ratio stands at 169 deaths per 100,0000 live births while the adolescent birth rate is 66.6 births per 1000 women (age 15-19). The labour force participation rate (age 15 and over) for female is 40.3 and 64.1 for men.
The report also dealt with the Gender Development Index (GDI). The GDI measures gender gaps in achievements in three basic dimensions of human development: health (measured by female and male life expectancy at birth), knowledge (measured by female and male expected years of schooling for children and mean years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and older) and living standards (measured by female and male estimated GNI per capita).
It is a ratio of the female to the male HDI. The 2021 female HDI value for Guyana is 0.704 in contrast with 0.720 for males, resulting in a GDI value of 0.978, placing it into Group One — countries with high equality in HDI achievements between women and men (absolute deviation of less than 2.5 per cent). The report says that the average life expectancy for a Guyanese is 65.7 years; for males, it is 62.5 years while for females, it is 69.1 years.
Meanwhile, the GNI per capita expressed in constant 2017 international dollars, converted using purchasing power parity (PPP) rates is 14,735 for females and 30,534 for males.
The report also measured the country’s Inequity-adjusted HDI. The IHDI considers inequalities in all three dimensions of the HDI by ‘discounting’ each dimension’s average value according to its level of inequality in the distribution. The ‘loss’ in human development due to inequality is given by the difference between the HDI and the IHDI.
As inequality in a country increases, the loss of human development also increases. Guyana’s loss due to inequality is 17.2 per cent, which lowered the HDI to 0.591 in 2021.
Moreover, for the first time in the 32 years that the UNDP has been calculating it, the Human Development Index has declined globally for two years in a row.
Human development has fallen back to its 2016 levels, reversing much of the progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The reversal is nearly universal as over 90 per cent of countries registered a decline in their HDI score in either 2020 or 2021 and more than 40 per cent declined in both years, signalling that the crisis is still deepening for many.
While some countries are beginning to get back on their feet, recovery is uneven and partial, further widening inequalities in human development. Latin America, the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia have been hit particularly hard.
“Even before COVID-19 hit, we were seeing the twin paradoxes of progress with insecurity and polarisation. Today, with one-third of people worldwide feeling stressed and fewer than a third of people worldwide trusting others, we face major roadblocks to adopting policies that work for people and the planet,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator.
“This thought-provoking new analysis aims to help us break this impasse and chart a new course out of our current global uncertainty. We have a narrow window to re-boot our systems and secure a future built on decisive climate action and new opportunities for all.”
To chart a new course, the report recommends implementing policies that focus on investment — from renewable energy to preparedness for pandemics, and insurance — including social protection — to prepare our societies for the ups and downs of an uncertain world. Innovation in its many forms — technological, economic, cultural — can also build capacities to respond to whatever challenges come next.
“To navigate uncertainty, we need to double down on human development and look beyond improving people’s wealth or health,” said UNDP’s Pedro Conceição, the report’s lead author. “These remain important. But we also need to protect the planet and provide people with the tools they need to feel more secure, regain a sense of control over their lives, and have hope for the future,” he added. (G1)