The document discusses the limitations of using only economic or social indicators to assess a country's level of development. It introduces the Human Development Index (HDI), which considers economic, health and education factors. While HDI takes a more comprehensive approach, it may not fully capture a country's situation due to unreliable data, large informal economies, lack of incorporation of human rights, and other important aspects of well-being. Alternative indicators like GNH try to include additional factors, but do not address more pressing livelihood needs. An accurate portrayal of development is complex with no perfect measure.

1. Can we reliably conclude the
level of development of a
country based on ONLY either
economic or social indicators?

2. Human Development Index (HDI)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwgZQ1DqG3w

3. Human Development Index (HDI)
Used to assess the level of development
in a country
HDI considers three main aspects:
Economic
Well-Being
-Income per capita
-Employment structure
-Employment opportunities*
Health
-Life expectancy
-Infant mortality rate
-Access to water supply*
-Access to sanitation
facilities*
Education
-Literacy rate

4. Rank
Order Country
Life
Expectancy
at birth
(years)
Adult
Literacy
Rate (%)
Years of
Schooling
(average)
Real GNP
per capita
(PPP$*)
1 JAPAN 78.6 99.0 10.7 17 616
2 CANADA 77.0 99.0 12.1 19 232
3 NORWAY 77.1 99.0 11.6 16 028
4 SWITZERLAND 77.4 99.0 11.1 20 874
5 SWEDEN 77.4 99.0 11.1 17 014
6 USA 75.9 99.0 12.3 21 449
7 AUSTRALIA 76.5 99.0 11.5 16 051
8 FRANCE 76.4 99.0 11.6 17 405
9 NETHERLANDS 77.2 99.0 10.6 15 695
10 UNITED KINGDOM 75.7 99.0 11.5 15 804
12 GERMANY 75.2 99.0 11.1 18 213
22 ITALY 76.0 97.1 7.3 15 890
23 SPAIN 77.0 97.5 6.8 11 723
37 RUSSIAN FEDERATION 69.3 94.0 9.0 7 968
48 POLAND 71.8 96.0 8.0 4 237
53 MEXICO 69.7 87.6 4.7 5 918
70 BRAZIL 65.6 81.1 3.9 4 718
84 SAUDI ARABIA 64.5 62.4 3.7 10 989
101 CHINA 70.1 73.3 4.8 1 990
124 EGYPT 60.3 48.4 2.8 1 988
129 KENYA 59.2 49.1 2.7 1 921
132 PAKISTAN 57.7 34.8 1.9 1 862
134 INDIA 59.1 48.2 2.4 1 072
142 NIGERIA 51.5 50.7 1.2 1 215
147 BANGLADESH 57.8 35.3 2.0 872
170 BUKINA FASO 48.2 18.2 0.1 618
171 AFGHANISTAN 42.5 29.4 0.8 714
172 SIERRA LEONE 42.0 20.7 0.9 1 086
173 GUINEA 43.5 24.0 0.8 501
HONG KONG - 23 SOUTH KOREA - 33 SINGAPORE - 43
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX
2015 HDI
Report
2015 HDI
Analysis
(Video)
2015 HDI
Report
(Video)

5. Limitations of HDIQuestion!
How accurate is the HDI in assessing the level of
development in a country?
Think!
Is the data
available?
Is the data
reliable?
Does the
economy rely
more on informal
trading instead?
Does HDI take
into account
human rights
and freedom?
What are some solutions to overcome the limitations of HDI?

6. So the HDI takes into account
economic AND social indicators
… but what about other
aspects of living well?

7. GNH Report

9. So these composite indicators
take into account economic AND
social indicators … and even
other aspects of living well …
But then again, are these other
aspects important in view of
more pressing issues eg having
food, a roof over my head …

10. How SHOULD a country’s
development be reliably
and accurately depicted?