Botswana ranks 119 in human development - UNDP

Lawrence Seretse | Thursday October 10, 2013 22:31

The 2013 Human Development Report titled The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World, says Botswana's human development index (HDI) rose by 2.7 percent during the period.

Botswana scores above the regional average, closely followed by South Africa (121), Namibia (128), Angola (148), Zambia (163) and Zimbabwe (172).

HDI measures development by combining indicators of life expectancy, educational attainment and income. The breakthrough for the HDI was the creation of a single statistic, which was to serve as a frame of reference for both social and economic development.

Botswana is reported to have made progress in all non-health measures of the HDI such as per capita income and education.

However, the health-related component of life expectancy fluctuated from 65.3 years in 1991 to about 55.5 years in 2010 and now stands at 53 years.

The report is now in its 23rd year. It was first published in 1990.