Seychelles top in Africa for quality of life

Seychelles is top in Africa for its quality of life according to the human development index measurement of national achievements.

The country’s human development index was measured at 0.797 out of a maximum score of one in the recent United Nations Development Programme’s human development report 2018.

Based on data collected in 2017, the report was launched on Friday September 14 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

A key indicator of human growth is provided under the human development index (HDI) of the report and is a measure of achievements in key dimensions of human development such as: a long and healthy life; access to knowledge; and have a decent standard of living.

Seychelles has consistently over the recent years maintained a steady ranking in terms of the HDI. This year’s report also ranks Seychelles 62nd out of 189 countries as having ‘high human development’ status.

Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland and Germany lead the HDI ranking of 189 countries and territories, while Niger, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Chad and Burundi have the lowest scores in the HDI’s measurement of national achievements in health, education and income.

Norway is first with a HDI of 0.953 followed by Switzerland (0.944) and Australia (0.939).

Seychelles’ neighbour Mauritius has a HDI of 0.790 and is ranked 65th.

Let’s compare Seychelles and top-ranked Norway in three factors – health, education and income.

In Seychelles life expectancy after birth is 73.7 years compared to Norway’s 82.3 years. The education index in Seychelles (expected and mean years of schoolings) is 14.8 years and in Norway it is 17.9 years. The gross national income (GNI) per capita in Seychelles is US $26,077 compared to Norway’s US $68,012.

According to the report, the overall trend globally is toward continued human development improvements, with many countries moving up through the human development categories: out of the 189 countries for which the HDI is calculated, 59 countries are today in the very high human development group and only 38 countries fall in the low HDI group. Just eight years ago in 2010, the figures were 46 and 49 countries respectively.

The HDI table is divided into four categories – very high human development (1 to 59), high human development (60 to 112), medium human development (113 to 151) and low human development (152 to 189).

The report clearly flags that there is a clear correlation between the implementation of Seychelles' National Development Strategy 2015-2019 and its primary focus on a ‘result-oriented’ workforce, enforcement of the highest environmental standards, human and social development programmes, and the latest ranking of Seychelles on the HDI.

Forrás: www.nation.sc