The Sultanate ranked fifth in the Gulf and Arab levels and 47th globally out of 189 countries and among the countries with very high human development according to the Human Development Report 2019 issued by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Said bin Rashid al-Qatabi, Director General of Social Sectors at the Secretariat General of the Supreme Council for Planning (SCP) said that compared to the 2018 report, the Sultanate advanced one rank in 2019, as it was ranked at 48 in 2018, which placed it among the countries with very high human development.
He pointed out that the rise in the Sultanate’s rank is attributed to the increase in the value of the Human Development Index from (0.821) in 2018 to (0.834) in 2019, and the improvement of the values of both Life Expectancy, Mean Years of Schooling, and Gross National Income Per Capita rose from (USD 36.290) to (USD 37.039).
Al-Qatabi affirmed the Sultanate’s level of improvement in all main indicators that make up the Human Development Index, as the Sultanate got (0.834) point in the index, whose value ranges between zero and one.
He explained that the index measures the average achievements in a country for three dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge acquisition and a decent standard of living.
On the Mean Years of Schooling, he indicated that the Sultanate has achieved a remarkable increase to reach 9.7 compared to 9.5 in the 2018 report, thus advancing to the second rank in the GCC level with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar. The United Arab Emirates came first.
He said that the Sultanate has achieved a noticeable increase in the number of Expected Years of Schooling to 14.7 compared to 13.9 in the 2018 report. The Sultanate is the most advanced Gulf country in the index for this year.
Regarding the decent standard of living, the Director General of the Social Sectors at the SCP Secretariat General said that the Gross National Income Per Capita of the Sultanate was USD 37,039. He added that the Sultanate also ranked third in the Gulf in the life expectancy at birth, which reached 77.6 years.
On the Human Development Report 2019, al-Qatabi stated that the report was launched under the title: "Beyond Income, Beyond Averages, Beyond Today: Inequalities in Human Development in the 21st Century", last December in Colombia. The report focused on the issue of inequality in human development.
He added, "This report analyzes inequalities in three categories: beyond income, beyond averages and beyond today. The report recommends developing policies that take into account income, including investment in early childhood and over the life cycle, productivity, public spending and fair taxes.
Al-Qatabi pointed to the beginning of new inequalities with regard to education, technology and climate change, which constitute fundamental transformations that could lead - if not addressed - to great new inequalities in societies, which we have not seen since the Industrial Revolution. He added, "In particular, the report highlights the climate crisis and technological change will shape life until the twenty-second century”.
He hoped that the Sultanate would reach more advanced places in the coming years in exchange for the efforts made by the government in the fields of education, health and development.ONA