Pakistan drops seven spots to 161st rank in Human Development Index

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Pakistan has dropped seven spots to 161 out of 192 countries in the latest human development rankings released on Thursday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

As per the UNDP report, in the previous year, Pakistan had stood at 154 out of 189 countries. According to the recent report, the country’s life expectancy at birth is 66.1 years and the expected years of schooling are 8, The News International reported.

The report, titled ‘Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World’ has found that the gross per capita national income of the country is USD 4,624. The report has identified that different climate shocks are affecting world order, pushing back the growth that was achieved in the past few years.

While doing so, it has categorised the floods in Pakistan as “an example of the climate shocks seen around the world.”

Among the nine South Asian countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka — only Pakistan and Afghanistan (180th position) are in the low human development category.

Switzerland secured the lead on the latest HDI while Norway and Iceland received second and third positions.

As per the report, Bhutan secured 127th position, Bangladesh 129th, India 132nd and Nepal received 143rd. The four South Asian countries are in the medium human development category. While the crisis-hit Sri Lanka managed to improve its position by 9 points, reaching the 73rd position on the index, The News International reported.

The report has found that around 90 per cent of countries have seen “reversals in human development” in the year of the survey, pointing to a world stuck in a never-ending cycle of crisis after crisis, causing global disruptions.

The two major factors responsible for these disruptions were the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, the report stated.

The HDI is an assessment of a nation’s health, education and standards of living.

Earlier, a Global Liveability Index released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) placed Karachi among the worst cities to live in the world in 2022.

The report analysed and marked 172 cities on the basis of five factors which are infrastructure, health care, education, culture, and entertainment the News International reported.

With the depleting foreign currency reserves and rising inflation, Pakistan is on the brink of economic collapse and heading towards a path similar to the economic downfall of Sri Lanka.

Pakistan’s current economic indices are quite poor. According to the UNDP, Pakistan is facing a debt in excess of USD 250 billion and Karachi being the city’s economic capital has been also undergoing severe instability. The cost of living crisis is tipping millions of people into poverty and even starvation at breathtaking speed and with that, the threat of increased social unrest grows by the day.

Since the start of 2022, the Pakistani rupee has lost over 30 per cent of its value, according to the Foreign Exchange Association of Pakistan.

The fast depletion of the foreign exchange reserves has been the reason behind Pakistan’s inflation of twin deficits, a lack of foreign currency inflows and a sharp increase in foreign debt servicing obligations.

Inflation in Pakistan entered the double-digit mark in July, the biggest surge in nearly six years. Moreover, apart from poor living conditions, theft, smuggling, drug peddling, and violence have further deteriorated social and economic conditions. (ANI)