Human Development report : Morocco still lagging behind its neighbors

After a year of stagnation, Morocco has managed to rise two notches to 121st in United Nations Development Program’s ranking, which measured the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2019 based on data from 2018.

In 2018, Morocco scored 0.676, moving to the «average human development» category. Ranked among 189 countries and territories, the Kingdom managed to have its human development index «rise from 0.458 to 0.676» between 1990 and 2018.

In details, UNDP explains that between 1990 and 2018, life expectancy at birth in Morocco increased by 11.7 years, the mean years of schooling rose by 3.3 years, and the expected years of schooling grew by 6.6 years. Morocco's gross national income (GNI) per capita increased by about 96.3% between 1990 and 2018.

Last year Morocco registered a life expectancy at birth of 76.5 years while the main years of schooling were limited to 13.1 years. In 2018, the expected years of schooling in Morocco were 5.5 years.

Human development, the difference between men and women

Based on several indicators, the report stresses that the Kingdom's Gender Development Index (GDI) score, which measures disparities on the HDI by gender, reached 0.833 in 2018.

«Morocco's HDI in 2018 was 0.603 for women and 0.724 for men», said the authors of the report, adding that Tunisia and Libya have an HDI of 0.899 and 0.931 respectively.

For the Gender Inequality Index (GII), which highlights gender-based inequalities in three dimensions (reproductive health, empowerment and economic activity), Morocco scores 0.492, ranking 118th out of 162 countries. There too, the Kingdom is preceded by Tunisia and Libya, which occupy respectively the 63rd and 41st places in this index.

For the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which is based on data from 2011, Morocco scores 0.085. This score remains very high compared to 0.005 and 0.007 recorded respectively by Tunisia and Libya.

Although Morocco's HDI in 2018 remains «above the average of the average human development group (0.634)», it is «lower than that of Arab States, which stands at 0.703».

The ranking is topped by Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, Germany and Hong Kong. In the Arab world, the United Arab Emirates (35th), Saudi Arabia (36th), Qatar (41st), Bahrain (45th) and the Sultanate of Oman (47th) come first.

Burundi, South Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic and Niger are at the bottom of the ranking.