The state of human development worldwide
The publication by the United Nations of the 20th annual edition of its human development report provides a wealth of fascinating data. The report ranks 169 countries by how developed they are as measured by a combination of measures covering education, health and inequality.
You will find the basic rankings in Table 1 here.
The top five are:
1. Norway
2. Australia
3. New Zealand
4. United States
5. Ireland
The bottom five are:
165. Mozambique
166. Burundi
167. Niger
168. Democratic Republic of Congo
169. Zimbabwe
The UK is only 26th.
The report reveals that the world financial crisis has caused 34 million people to become unemployed and pushed a further 64 million below the income poverty threshold of a mere $1.25 (77p) a day.