Ghana ranked 7th in Africa in 2022 Human Development Index

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Shiashie, Accra

Ghana jumped up 3 places to 133rd globally, and 7th in Africa in the 2021-2022 Human Development Index published by the  Development Programme () on Thursday, September 8, 2022

The latest Human Development Report, “Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World,” was released on Thursday by the .

The Human Development Index (HDI), published annually by UNDP, measures a nation's health, education and standard of living. A country scores a higher level of HDI when the lifespan is higher, the education level is higher and the gross national income GNI (PPP) per capita is higher.

According to the report, Ghana had a human development classification of “medium” scoring 0.632 in 2021.

The HDI is expressed as a figure ranging from 0 to 1. Categories are assigned to each country accordingly: “Low Human Development” (0-0.55), “Medium Human Development” (0.55-0.69), “High Human Development” (0.7-0.79) and “Very High Human Development” (0.8-1).

Between 1990 and 2021, Ghana's HDI value changed from 0.460 to 0.632, a change of 37.74 per cent.

Although there has been an improvement in Ghana's ratings in the HDI, Ghanaians have found it difficult over the past few years to make ends meet. The country is experiencing a record level of inflation, which stands at around 31 per cent for 14 straight months in July 2022, the highest since December 2003, and a record drop in purchasing power due to the depreciation of the against foreign currencies.

Ghana's life expectancy at birth in 2021 was 66.0 years for women, and 61.6 for men.

When it comes to the Gender Inequality Index (GII) Ghana had a GII value of 0.529, 130th out of 170 countries in 2021.

Human Development Index 2022

The index overall has fallen for the last two years – the first time since it was launched 32 years ago – due to the pandemic, stalling global economic growth and the effects of .

“This drop is almost universal but also deepening. If you track the historical HDI, every year some countries see a decline but no more than 10% so less than 20 countries, but this year's decline is a global shock. More than 40% of these countries have two consecutive years of decline,” the report published on Thursday said.

“Human development has fallen back to its 2016 levels, reversing much of the progress towards the . Without a sharp change, of course, we may be heading towards even more deprivations and injustice.”

Switzerland ranked first in the index mainly due to a rise in life expectancy and a rebound in its income per capita. It was followed by Norway and Iceland while , Chad and South had the lowest HDI scores.

Most Developed African Countries 2022

Below is a table of Sub-Sahara African countries ranked according to their UNDP's Human Development Index (HDI) for 2021;

CountryAfrica RankWorld Rank2021 HDI2020 HDI2020-2021 Change in HDIHDI Classification
1630.8020.804-0.002Very High
Seychelles2720.7850.793-0.008High
31090.7130.727-0.014High
Gabon41120.7060.71-0.004High
Botswana51170.6930.713-0.02Medium
Cabo Verde61280.6620.6620Medium
Ghana71330.6320.6320Medium
Sao Tome and Principe81380.6180.619-0.001Medium
Namibia91390.6150.633-0.018Medium
Eswatini (Kingdom of)101440.5970.61-0.013Medium
Equatorial 111450.5960.599-0.003Medium
Zimbabwe121460.5930.6-0.007Medium
131480.5860.59-0.004Medium
Cameroon141510.5760.578-0.002Medium
Kenya151520.5750.578-0.003Medium
Congo161530.5710.574-0.003Medium
Zambia171540.5650.57-0.005Medium
Comoros181560.5580.562-0.004Medium
191580.5560.5560Medium
Cote d'Ivoire201590.550.551-0.001Medium
Tanzania (United Republic of)211600.5490.5480.001Low
221620.5390.5350.004Low
231630.5350.5350Low
241650.5340.5320.002Low
251660.5250.5240.001Low
261660.5250.5240.001Low
Lesotho271680.5140.521-0.007Low
281690.5120.516-0.004Low
291700.5110.513-0.002Low
Madagascar301730.5010.5010Low
311740.50.501-0.001Low
321750.4980.4980Low
Eritrea331760.4920.494-0.002Low
-Bissau341770.4830.4830Low
351780.4810.480.001Low
Congo (Democratic Republic of the)361790.4790.4790Low
Sierra Leone371810.4770.4750.002Low
Guinea381820.4650.466-0.001Low
391840.4490.4490Low
401850.4460.453-0.007Low
411860.4280.4270.001Low
421870.4260.4260Low
Central African Republic431880.4040.407-0.003Low
441890.40.401-0.001Low
Chad451900.3940.397-0.003Low
South 461910.3850.386

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