Country Fact Sheetsliving standard Pakistan
The Human Development Index – going beyond income
The human development index (HDI) focuses on three measurable dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life, being educated and having a decent standard of living. Thus it combines measures of life expectancy, school enrolment, literacy and income to allow a broader view of a country’s development than does income alone.
Although the HDI is a useful starting point, it is important to remember that the concept of human development is much broader and more complex than any summary measure can capture, even when supplemented by other indices. The HDI is not a comprehensive measure. It does not include important aspects of human development, notably the ability to participate in the decisions that affect one’s life and to enjoy the respect of others in the community.
It is also important to note that the HDI is constructed using data from international sources. Sometimes more up-to-date data are available nationally, and sometimes there are slight differences in definitions between international and national data. For these and other reasons, discrepancies with national sources may occur.
HDI rank
2003
(177 countries) GDP per capita
rank
2003
(177 countries) GDP per capita
(PPP US$) rank
minus HDI
rank (higher
means better
on HDI) GDP per capita
value
(PPP US$)
2003
HDI
value
2003
Pakistan 135 130 -5 2,097 0.527
South Asia Countries - - - 2,897 0.628
Best performer in South Asia (Sri Lanka) 93 110 17 3,778 0.751
Worst performer in South Asia (Bangladesh) 139 138 -1 1,770 0.520
Pakistan is ranked 135th in the 2005 Human Development Report, with an HDI value of 0.527.
Sri Lanka ranks first in the region, with a value of 0.751.
Life expectancy at birth
(years)
2003 Combined primary, secondary and
tertiary gross enrolment ratio (%)
2002/2003 GDP per capita
(PPP US$)
2003
- Japan (82.0)
- Hong Kong, China (SAR) (81.6)
- Iceland (80.7)
- Comoros (63.2)
- Guyana (63.1)
- São Tomé and Principe (63.0)
- Pakistan (63.0)
- United Kingdom (123)
- Australia (116)
- Belgium (114)
- Guinea-Bissau (37)
- Ethiopia (36)
- Burundi (35)
- Pakistan (35)
- Luxembourg (62,298)
- Ireland (37,738)
- Norway (37,670)
- Ghana (2,238)
- Cameroon (2,118)
- Guinea (2,097)
Pakistan (2,097)
Swaziland (32.5) 173. Niger (21) 170. Sierra Leone (548)
Human poverty in Pakistan: focusing on the most deprived in multiple dimensions of poverty
· The HDI measures the average progress of a country in human development. Human Development Report 1997 introduced the human poverty index (HPI), which focuses on the proportion of people below a threshold level in basic dimensions of human development - living a long and healthy life, having access to education, and a decent standard of living, much as the poverty headcount measures the proportion of people below a certain income level. The HPI-1 measures human poverty in developing countries.
· The HPI-1 value for Pakistan, 37.1%, ranks 68th among 103 developing countries for which the index has been calculated.
HPI-1 rank
(103 countries) HPI-1 value
(%)
Pakistan 68 37.1
Best performer in South Asia (Iran, Islamic Rep. of) 36 16.4
Worst performer in South Asia (Bangladesh) 86 44.1
Best performer in the world (Uruguay) 1 3.6
Worst performer in the world (Niger) 103 64.4
Building the capabilities of women
GDI rank
(140 countries) GDI value
HDI rank
minus
GDI rank HDI value
Pakistan 107 0.508 -4 0.527
Best performer in South Asia (Sri Lanka) 66 0.747 7 0.751
Worst performer in South Asia (Pakistan) 107 0.508 -4 0.527
Best performer in the world (Norway) 1 0.960 0 0.963
Worst performer in the world (Niger) 140 0.271 -4 0.281
The HDI measures average achievements in a country, but it does not incorporate the degree of gender imbalance in these achievements. The gender-related development index (GDI), introduced in Human Development Report 1995, measures achievements in the same dimensions using the same indicators as the HDI but captures inequalities in achievement between women and men. It is simply the HDI adjusted downward for gender inequality. The greater the gender disparity in basic human development, the lower is a country's GDI relative to its HDI.
· The GDI value for Pakistan ranks 107th, with a value of 0.508.
The gender empowerment measure (GEM) reveals whether women take an active part in economic and political life. It focuses on gender inequality in key areas of economic and political participation and decision-making. It tracks the share of seats in parliament held by women; of female legislators, senior officials and managers; and of female professional and technical workers- and the gender disparity in earned income, reflecting economic independence. Differing from the GDI, the GEM exposes inequality in opportunities in selected areas.
· The GEM value for Pakistan ranks 71st.
· Women hold 20.6% of parliamentary seats, and make up 26% of professional and technical workers. 2% of administrators and managers are women.
Seats in parliament held by women
(% of total) Female administrators and managers
(% of total) Female professional and technical workers
(% of total) Estimated female earned income
(PPP US$) Ratio of female earned income to male earned
income
- Rwanda (45.3)
- Sweden (45.3)
- Norway (38.2)
- Poland (20.7)
- Saint Lucia (20.7)
- Nicaragua (20.7)
- Pakistan (20.6)
- Philippines (58.1)
- Fiji (50.6)
- Tanzania, U. Rep. of (49.1)
- Turkey (6.2)
- Korea, Rep. of (5.9)
- Yemen (4.4)
- Pakistan (2.4)
- Barbados (71.3)
- Lithuania (69.7)
- Estonia (69.2)
- Tanzania, U. Rep. of (31.7)
- Egypt (31.4)
- Turkey (30.4)
- Pakistan (25.8)
- Luxembourg (34,890)
- Norway (32,272)
- United States (29,017)
- Senegal (1,175)
- Uganda (1,169)
- Togo (1,092)
- Pakistan (1,050)
- Kenya (0.93)
- Switzerland (0.90)
- Cambodia (0.76)
- Dominican Republic (0.36)
- Austria (0.35)
- Kuwait (0.35)
Pakistan (0.34)
Yemen (0.3) 86. Saudi Arabia (6.4) 154. Sierra Leone (325) 154. Oman (0.19)