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 sixty-nine countries of the 193 countries ranked as having achieved a Very
High Level of Human Development, up from sixty-two 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.
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 ten 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 neighbors. St. Kitts and Nevis is the number one ranked
Caribbean country in terms of human development, ranked at number 51 in 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).
In the discussion of the 2018/2019 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 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
