Washington briefing: UN study: Armenia falls behind Turkey in “human development”

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Saturday December 27, 2008

An annual United Nations study of the world's development released on December 18 placed Armenia 83rd of 175 countries ranked. The Human Development Index takes into account life expectancy,

ducation levels, and per capita economic activity.

For the first time since the 1990s, Armenia was ranked behind Turkey (79), although still ahead of other neighbors: Iran (84), Georgia (93), and Azerbaijan (97), all grouped with countries with "medium human development."

The report showed Armenia's HDI fall from 0.732 in 1990 to 0.695 in 1995 and then rebound to 0.735 in 2000 and 0.777 in 2006 (the latest statistics provided); Turkey meanwhile has made consistent progress from an HDI of 0.700 in 1990 to 0.798 in 2006.

In the former Soviet territory, the three Baltic republics were ranked most developed, occupying places from 42nd to 44th; Belarus was ranked 67th, and Russia 73rd, all among countries with "high human development." The HDI list was topped by Iceland, Norway, and Canda, while Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Sierra Leone were ranked at the bottom.

The HDI report is prepared by the United Nations Development program based on national statistics.

http://hdr.undp.org.