What does it mean to be ranked 154/188 on the Human Development Index

UNDP, 2016

Australia

A Very Human High Development country with Human Development Index (HDI) value of 0.939 out of high of 1.0, Life Expectancy at Birth of 82.5 years, Expected Years of Schooling of 20.4 years, Mean School Years of 13.2 years, Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of $42,822 (International Currency) and GNI per capita minus HDI rank of 19. Of the 188 HDI ranking, Australia was ranked 3rd in 2014 and moved one place up to 2nd in 2015.

Fiji

A High Human Development country. It has a HDI value of 0.736 out of a possible 1.0, Life Expectancy at Birth of 70.2 years, Expected Years of Schooling of 15.3 years, Expected Years of Schooling of 10.5 years, GNI per capita of $8,245 (International Currency) and GNI per capita minus HDI rank of 20. Fiji was ranked 91 in 2014 and remained at 91 in 2015 among the 188 countries.

Vanuatu

Vanuatu is categorised as a Medium Human Development country. Vanuatu has HDI value of 0.597 out of a high of 1.0, Life Expectancy at Birth of 72.1 years, Expected Years of Schooling 10.8 years, Mean School Years of 6.8 years, GNI per capita of $2,805 (International Dollar) and GNI per capita minus HDI rank value of 23. Vanuatu ranked 134 in 2014 and remained unchanged at 134 out of the 188 countries on the HDI ranking.

Papua New Guinea

PNG was categorised as Low Human Development Country. PNG has HDI value of 0.516 out of a high of 1.0, Life Expectancy at Birth of 62.8 years, Expected Years of Schooling at 9.9 years, Mean Years of Schooling at 4.3 years, GNI per capita of $2,712 (International Currency) and GNI per capita minus HDI rank value of 4. PNG HDI rank was 153 in 2014 but fell 1 place to 154 in 2015 out of the 188 countries ranked.

Comparison - some similarities

Australia (VHHD), Fiji (HHD) and Vanuatu (MHD) have HDI value was near 0.6 or higher,
Life Expectancy at Birth above 70 years where Fiji and Vanuatu’s Life Expectancy at Birth were 70.2 years and 72.1 years respectively.
Expected Years of Schooling for the three countries have an interval of 5 years with Australia at 20.4 years, Fiji at 15.3 years and Vanuatu at 10.8 years,
GNI per capita about $3,000 (Vanuatu = $2,802) or more
GNI per capita minus HDI rank value more approximately equal to 20.
Fiji and Vanuatu DHI ranks have remained the same in 2014 and 2015 at 91 and 134, respectively. Australia’s HDI rank improve from 3rd in 2014 to 2nd in 2015.

Contrast - some differences

The difference between the Human Development Index (HDI) value of Australia and Fiji was 0.203 (0.939 – 0.736 = 0.203) and Australia and PNG was 0.423 (0.939 – 0.516 = 0.423) indicating a wide disparity between the VHHD – MDH and VHHD – LDH countries;
The difference between the Life Expectancy at Birth of Australia and Fiji was 12.3 years (82.5 – 70.2 = 12.3 years) and Australia and PNG was 19.7 years (82.5 – 62.8 = 19.7 years another example of identifying disparity between the VHHD – MDH and VHHD – LDH countries;
The difference between the Expected Years of Schooling in Australia and Fiji was 5.1 years (20.4 – 15.3 = 5.1 years) and Australia and PNG was 10.5 years (20.4 – 9.9 = 10.5 years)
The difference between the Mean School Year in Australia and Fiji was 2.7 years (13.2 – 10.5 = 2. 7 years) and Australia and PNG was 8.9 years (13.2 – 4.3 = 6.2 years);
The difference between the Gross National Income per capita in Australia and Fiji was $34,577 ($42,822 - $8,245 = $34,577) and Australia and PNG was $42 110 ($42,822 – 2,712 = $42,110) ; and
The difference between the GNI per capita minus HDI rank in Australia and Fiji was -1 (19 – 20 = -1, Fiji higher value than Australia) and Australia and PNG was 15 (19 – 4 = 15).

Summary

The indicators for the VHHD, HHD and MHD countries showed relatively close similarities when the indicators of an MHD country was used, in this case Vanuatu. There were significant differences when the human development indicators from PNG (a LHD country) were differentiated again the indicators from VHHD and HHD countries.

The HDI ranks for 2014 and 2015 showed that Australia improved by one place from 3rd to 2nd, Fiji retained its rank at 91, Vanuatu retained its rank at 134 and PNG’s rank dropped from 153 to 154.