Armenia ranks 87 out of 187 countries in the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) 2014 Human Development Report. It is included in the group of 58 other states with a high level of human development. Armenia ranked in the same position in the 2013 report.
The Human Development Index is an annual report which gathers data on different countries’ standard of living and social protection, health indicators, education and cultural development, crime, environmental protection, and people’s participation in decision-making. Based on these conditions, the countries are categorized according to their level of human development as very high, high, medium, or low.
Armenia ranks the lowest out of its neighboring countries in the section subtitled, “Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience.” Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Georgia rank 65th, 75th, 76th, and 79th respectively. These four countries are included in the group with high levels of human development, together with Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan, which rank 53rd, 57th, and 70th respectively.
Norway is ranked at the top, followed by Australia and Switzerland. The other countries in the top ten are the Netherlands, the United States, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, and Denmark.
There are 49 countries included in the group with very high levels of human development. The ranking ends with Sierra Leone, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo, and Niger. Forty-three countries comprise the group with low levels of human development.
The 2014 report shows that most countries recorded stable development over the past year. The authors argue that progress in the fields of technology, education, and revenue promises a longer, healthier, and more secure life. At the same time, the fear of instability is becoming more widespread in the world. According to UN agencies, national leaders prone to corruption and who do not listen to the needs of their people may deprive those in need from sources of aid.
The UNDP has published annual reports on human development since 1990. The reports are prepared by independent international experts using analytical data based on statistics from various international intergovernmental organizations.
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