Switzerland remains second in the United Nations (UN) global Human Development Index (HDI) ranking in 2019.
Switzerland ranked just behind Norway. Ireland (3rd), Germany (4th) and Hong Kong (4th) completed the top five.
The HDI looks at life expectancy, mean years of schooling and per capita income – Gross National Income (GNI).
In 2019, Switzerland was ranked third on life expectancy (83.6 years), third on mean years of schooling (13.4 years) and tenth on per capita income (US$ 59,375 PPP).
In Switzerland, between 1990 and 2018, life expectancy at birth (+6.1 years), mean years of schooling (+3.7 years) and GNI per capita (+20.8%) all rose substantially.
The ten countries at the bottom were all in sub-saharan Africa. According to the report, the gap between front runners and those at the bottom is widening. The big drivers of this divergence are education, environment and technology. Access to broadband internet is 25 times higher in the leading nations compared to those at the bottom. The authors expect this HDI gap to grow as those in the lead benefit from a virtuous cycle of progress.
More on this:
UN HDI report (in English)
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