Press Release 09/11/2018

SOCIAL INDICATORS. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX

In 2017 the Basque Country remained amongst the top 15 countries according to the HDI ranking

Compared to 2010, all the components of the HDI improved, and compared to 2016, they all improved or remained the same

The Basque Country was between 13th and 14th place in the classification of countries with a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.922 in 2017, according to Eustat data, which calculated the HDI of the Basque Country for the period 2010-2017, using the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) methodology. Compared to the previous year, the Basque Country remained in the same position, although the index value increased by two thousandths, based on the new calculation for the period 2010-2017 by the UNDP and Eustat.

The most recent report published by the UNDP, containing data referring to 2017, established a global ranking of 189 countries by living conditions. The study allocated a HDI to each country (on a scale of 0 to 1) according to life expectancy at birth, expected years of schooling for children at school age, mean years of schooling for adults aged 25 or above and lastly Gross National Income per capita.

The HDI places Basque society amongst the most developed in the world, behind Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Iceland, Hong Kong, Sweden, Singapore, the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada and the United States. Spain came 26th in the UNDP report with an HDI of 0.891. Niger came last in the ranking with an HDI of 0.354.



In the period 2010-2017, all the components of HDI improved in the Basque Country. Life expectancy went from 82.4 to 83.5 years, in addition to occupying 4th place, only behind Hong Kong (84.1) and Japan (83.9) and level with Switzerland (83.5).

The situation was the same with regard to the indicator expected years of schooling, which went from 18.1 to 18.8 years and is also amongst the top positions, specifically in 7th place, behind Australia (22.9), Belgium (19.8), Ireland (19.6), Denmark (19.1) and New Zealand (18.9).

With regard to the mean years of schooling, although this also increased in the aforementioned period, from 10.2 to 11.0 years, the Basque Country was overtaken by 41 countries, led by Germany (14.1 years on average), Switzerland and the United States (13.4) and Canada (13.3).

Between 2010 and 2017 the Gross National Income per capita in the Basque Country increased from 43,207 to 46,248 US dollars, as measured in terms of purchasing power parity, putting it a long way behind Norway (68,012) and Qatar (116,818), the country with the highest income per person in the world, but immediately ahead of Germany (46,136).

If a comparison to the previous year, 2016, is made, the different HDI components either improved, as in the case of life expectancy (one tenth, from 83.4 to 83.5) and Gross National Income (from 44,964 to 46,248) or remained the same, as in the case of the indicators related to education, both for the mean years of schooling and the expected years of schooling.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62