Guyana is now ranked 92nd out of a total of 154 countries as measured in the Global Human Development report 2003 published by the United Nations Development Programme

The Human Development Index is a combined measurement of a country’s per capita GDP, literacy rate and life expectancy.

The report was published yesterday and shows that 54 countries were now poorer than in 1990; that life expectancy in 34 countries fell primarily because of HIV/AIDS and the populations in 21 countries were hungrier than in 1990.

The report also shows that half the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean recorded either a decline or stagnation in their income during the 1990’s in today’s measures.

Guyana, which was at 103 in 2002, is ranked just above Grenada (93) but below Suriname (77), Jamaica (78), St Vincent and the Grenadines (80), Trinidad and Tobago (54) and Barbados (27). Cuba is ranked 52nd.

Guyana’s life expectancy as of 2001 was at birth 63.3 years, adult literacy rate of 98.6% (2001) combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio of 84% and a per capita GDP (2001) of $4690.

Countries now below Guyana on the index include Turkey (96), Iran (106) and South Africa (111).

Topping the index are three Scandinavian countries, Norway, Iceland and Sweden.

Speaking at the launch of the document in Dublin, economist and UN adviser Dr Jeffrey Sachs said if rich and poor countries alike set their minds to the practical tasks recommended in the report, “we can foresee the absolute end to poverty within a generation.”

A Government Information Agency press release also noted that the government had spent over $700M last year to address poverty with much of the money going on social services to senior citizens, women and children.