The Human Development Index and the Caribbean- Party Time?

On March 14, 2024, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released the 2023/2024 edition of its annual Global Human Development Report (HDR). The report which has been published since 1990 provides insights into the performance of 193 countries in terms of access to health care, education and the general standard of living. In reviewing the current report, I take a five-year perspective and compare the performance of countries relative to the 2018/2019 report.

One of the key outputs of the HDR is the Human Development Index (HDI) which places countries into one of four categories- (1) Countries with Very High Level of Human Development, (2) countries with High Human Development, (3) countries with Medium Human Development, countries with Low Human Development. The 2023/2024 edition of the HDI classifies 69 countries of the 193 countries ranked as having achieved a Very High Level of Human Development, up from 62 in the 2018/2019 report. Switzerland is ranked number one in the world in terms of human development, replacing Norway which was ranked number one in 2018/2019.

Justin Robinson

A striking feature of the HDI over the years is that the world’s richest and most powerful nations are rarely, if ever, in the top 10 on this index. For example, the USA, Japan and China, the three largest economies in the world, are ranked at numbers 20, 24 and 75 respectively, while the three richest countries in the world based on Gross Domestic Product Per Capita, Qatar,

Luxembourg and Brunei are ranked at numbers 40, 20 and 55 respectively. The HDI rankings have consistently suggested that while a strong and relatively prosperous economy is necessary to support a Very High Level of Human Development, it is not sufficient. Alongside a strong economy, the critical element in the level of human development attained by a nation appears to be the philosophical approach to the degree of access citizens and residents are to be provided to social services such as health care and education. The HDI rankings are dominated by countries with strong economies which provides the financial means to support a high level of human development, and who are governed by a philosophy of providing citizens and residents whatever their economic means with universal or widespread access to a certain level of education and healthcare among other social services. The pursuit of social democratic ideals, along with a strong economy, appear to be the critical ingredients for a nation to achieve a very high level of human development.

In the 2018/2019 edition of the HDI, two Caribbean nations, Barbados and The Bahamas were classified as enjoying a Very High Level of Human Development. I find it a cause for celebration that in the 2023/2024 edition of this report, three Caribbean nations countries, St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua & Barbuda and Trinidad & Tobago joined Barbados and The Bahamas in being classified in the Very High Level of Human Development category. In fact, these three nations surpassed their Caribbean neighbours. St Kitts and Nevis is the number one ranked

Caribbean country in terms of human development, ranked at number 51 in the world from among 193 countries, up from number 73 in 2018/2019. Antigua and Barbuda surged to be the number 2 ranked Caribbean country in terms of human development, at number 54 in the world, up from number 74 in 2018/2019, while Trinidad and Tobago is number 3 in the Caribbean, ranked at number 60 in the world, up from number 63 in 2018/2019. It is also noteworthy and pride worthy that with the exception of Haiti, all other CARICOM member nations are classified as achieving High Human Development, with Guyana which was previously classified as having Medium Human Development moving into the High Human Development category (see table 1 for a full Caribbean ranking).

After 20 years of progress UNDP states, “for the first time on record, inequalities in Human Development Index (HDI) values—which measure a country’s health, education and standard of living—are growing between countries at the bottom and countries at the top of the index. Following the 2020 and 2021 declines in the global HDI value, the world had the opportunity to build forward better. Instead, this Human Development Report shows that our global community is falling short.” In the face of the growing inequality highlighted by UNDP and a “world on fire” as stated by my colleagues Prof. Don Marshall, it is a stupendous and extraordinary achievement for five Caribbean nations to be in the elite category on this global ranking, as some of the smallest and most vulnerable nations in the world and their limited resources and horrible legacy of slavery and colonialism. The significant leaps made by the tiny nations of St. Kitts and Nevis and Antigua & Barbuda are an immense source of pride.

Caribbean nations should not rest on their laurels but should recommit to Social Democratic principles and creating societies where universal access to health care and education are seen as national imperatives alongside growing their economies and improving the material standard of living.

Prof C Justin Robinson

Principal UWI Five Islands Campus &

Pro Vice Chancellor Planning & Academic Industry Partnerships