Pakistan Falls to Low Level of Human Development Chapter 14 Pakistan Falls to Low Level of Human Development The UNDP Global Human Development Report for 2021-22 was released on the 8 th of September 2022. In the Human Development Index(HDI) ranking of 189 countries, Pakistan has slipped badly. It has fallen from the 154 th position in 2020 to the 161 st position in 2021­22. In 2020 it was grouped in countries with a medium level of human development. Now it has been placed in countries with a low level of human development. This is bound to adversely affect perceptions of Pakistan, including these of international investors. 14.1 HDI Rankings The rankings in the HDI of South Asian Countries are given in Table 14.1 below. Table 14.1: HDI Ranking of South Asian Countries, 2020 and 2021 Countries Ranking 2020 HDI* Value Level** Ranking Sri Lanka 72 0.780 H 73 India 131 0.642 M 132 Bangladesh 133 0.655 M 129 Nepal 142 0.604 M 143 Pakistan 154 0.543 M 161 *Human Development Index|**H= High, M= Medium, L= Low Source: UNDP, Global HDR, 2021-22 2021-22 HDI Value 0.783 0.633 0.661 0.602 0.544 Level H M M M L Table 14.1 is very revealing in nature. Pakistan has the lowest HDI ranking among South Asian countries, even below Bangladesh and Nepal, two countries in the category of least developed countries. The difference in the HDI values from 2020 to 2021-22 reflects especially the impact of COVID-19. India has seen the biggest decline in its HDI of almost 2 percent followed by Nepal. Bangladesh has managed the biggest improvement in the HDI of 1 percent. Sri Lanka and Pakistan have experienced marginal increases in the HDI. A long-term comparison can be made of the evolution of the HDI at the country level from 1990 to 2021. This is done in Table 14.2. 133