Bhutan inches ahead in quality of life

October 18: Bhutan is ranked 132nd among 182 countries, a notch up from last year, in the middle human development category, according to the UNDP human development report, 2009.

With a human development index (HDI) of 0.619, Bhutan has moved up in the ranking from 133rd in 2006, 134th in 2005, and 136th in 2004.

The increase indicates an improvement in the living conditions of its people and represents progress on factors of wellbeing such as life expectancy, literacy, school enrollment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capital.

Bhutan’s life expectancy at birth is 67.5 years, literacy at 52.8 percent, school enrollment at 54.1 percent and GDP at 4,837 (US $).

Among the SAARC countries, Bhutan has fared better than India, which is ranked 134th, Pakistan is at 141, Nepal 144 and Bangladesh 146.

Themed “Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development,” the report, which was released globally earlier this month in Bangkok, Thailand, explores how better policies towards human mobility can enhance human development. It argues for practical measures that can have large benefits, both for destination communities and for places of origin.

“When we analyse human development as a cause of human movement, then the country measure will be more appropriate because it will serve as an indicator of how living standards differ across places,” states the report in its first chapter on how mobility can foster human development.

The report recommends that large gains to human development can be achieved by lowering the barriers to movement and improving the treatment of movers.

The key driver of human movement, according to the report, is the unequal distribution of opportunities across the globe, which implies that movement has a huge potential for improving human development.

Bhutan has an emigration rate of 2.2 percent, states the report. The major continent of destination for migrants from Bhutan is Asia with 89.3 percent of emigrants living there, states the report. “In Bhutan, there are 37,300 migrants, which represent 5.7 percent of the total population.”

Globally, more than five million people cross international borders to go and live in a developed country every year, according to the report.

Although these flows of people are likely to slow temporarily during the current economic crisis, states the report, “underlying structural trends will persist once growth resumes and are likely to generate increased pressures for movement in the coming decades.”

Poverty index
Bhutan’s human poverty index (HPI) is 33.7 percent, and ranks 102nd among 135 countries. The human poverty index (HPI) measures severe deprivation in health, education and people’s standard of living. In gender-related development, the report states, “Out of the 155 countries, 123 have a better ratio than Bhutan’s.”
The gender related development index (GDI) measures inequalities in achievement between women and men.

source: kuensel