Guyana tops Caribbean with strong HDI, lowest debt burden – UNDP report

Guyana continues to maintain a high Human Development Index (HDI) and low debt pressure, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Democracy and Development Report 2026, which highlighted the country’s improving economic and social indicators amid broader regional challenges.
The report noted that Guyana remains within the Caribbean’s “High HDI” grouping, while also recording the best debt-to-GDP ratio among Caribbean nations. The HDI is a composite measure developed by the UNDP that evaluates countries based on life expectancy, education and income levels.
The High HDI group includes: Belize (0.721), Cuba (0.762), Dominica (0.761), Dominican Republic (0.776), Grenada (0.791), Guyana (0.776), Jamaica (0.72), Saint Lucia (0.748), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (0.798) and Suriname (0.722).
Meanwhile, Caribbean countries in the very high HDI group include Antigua and Barbuda (0.851), The Bahamas (0.82), Barbados (0.811), St. Kitts and Nevis (0.84) and Trinidad and Tobago (0.807).”
“Overall, the Caribbean’s record invites optimism, according to the most recent HDI data for 2023, which show that 93 percent of the countries evaluated show high or very high human development, with the exception of Haiti, which is in the medium range,” the report noted.
Further adding, “In parallel with its process of democratic consolidation since the early 1990s – and notwithstanding heterogeneity and persistent challenges – LAC has achieved remarkable progress in terms of human development over the past three decades.”
It added that between 1990 and 2023, “the overall HDI value for LAC increased from 0.648 to 0.783,” enabling the region to move from a medium to a high level of human development.
The UNDP also linked these gains to economic expansion and social policy reforms across the region.
“HDI trends are consistent with sustained improvements in income levels across the region,” the report stated, noting that much of the progress was driven by “the strong economic growth experienced during the commodity boom.”
The report further observed that: ““The commodity-driven cycle of economic dynamism coincided with democratic expansion and the strengthening of welfare and social protection systems.”
Despite these gains, the UNDP warned of inequalities and vulnerabilities remain across Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Although substantial progress has been made in reducing poverty, deep territorial inequalities remain,” the report said, noting that poverty rates in rural areas continue to exceed those in urban centres,” the report said.
It also emphasized the importance of resilience, stating that “the Report emphasizes the importance of advancing toward resilient human development in LAC. This entails not only expanding capabilities and opportunities, but strengthening the ability of individuals, communities and institutions to withstand, adapt to, and recover from economic, social, climate or security shocks.”
On governance and democracy, the report found that “countries with higher HDI tended to report slightly higher satisfaction with democracy.”
The report also highlighted the challenge of public debt in the Caribbean, particularly among countries with high poverty levels and limited fiscal space.
Under the section titled “The fiscal pressure of debt,” the UNDP stated: “Some of the countries with the highest rates of poverty and unsatisfied basic needs are, simultaneously, those with the largest and most suffocating public debts.”
It noted that debt service has imposed heavy burdens on Caribbean governments, with “debt-to-GDP ratios sometimes exceeding 100 percent, a situation that tended to worsen with the COVID-19 crisis.”
However, Guyana continued to emerge as a notable exception in the region.
A graph in the report comparing government debt as a percentage of GDP in 2019 and 2023 showed Guyana’s debt burden falling sharply over the period.
In 2019, Guyana’s debt stood at approximately 44 to 45 percent of GDP. By 2023, the figure had declined to around 20 percent, giving the country the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio among Caribbean states assessed in the report.
The decline reflects the rapid expansion of Guyana’s economy in recent years, driven largely by oil production and broader economic growth, which significantly increased GDP relative to public debt levels.
The report concluded that fiscal governance remains critical for the region, stating that “this section also highlights the importance of governance frameworks in addressing the challenges arising from fiscal constraints, paving the way for the State to advance its development agenda.”