ZAMBIA has recorded a 38.7 percent human development index value from 0.421 to 0.584 between 1990 and 2019, the 2020 Human development Report has revealed.
The report, done by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), reveals that Zambia’s life expectancy at birth increased by 14.6 years to 63.9 years in 2019 from 49.2 years in 1990.
“Zambia’s HDI value for 2019 is 0.584— which put the country in the medium human development category—positioning it at 146 out of 189 countries and territories. Between 1990 and 2019, Zambia’s HDI value increased from 0.421 to 0.584, an increase of 38.7 percent. Between 1990 and 2019, Zambia’s life expectancy at birth increased by 14.6 years [to 63.9],” the report read in part.
It added that the expected years of schooling had increased by four years, from 7.5 years in 1990 to 11.5 years in 2019.
“Mean years of schooling increased by 2.5 years [to 7.2 years] and expected years of schooling increased by 4.0 years [to 11.5 years],” it read.
The report further revealed that Zambia’s gross national income (GNI) per capita increased by about 65.0 percent between 1990 and 2019.
However, the report noted that Zambia’s 2019 HDI of 0.584 was below the average of 0.631 for countries in the medium human development group and above the average of 0.547 for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa where it was compared to Angola and Malawi which have HDIs ranked 148 and 174, respectively.
The report added that when the country’s HDI is discounted for inequality, it falls to 0,401 percent due to inequality in the distribution of the HDI dimension indices such as education and standard of living.
“Zambia’s HDI for 2019 is 0.584. However, when the value is discounted for inequality, the HDI falls to 0.401, a loss of 31.3 percent due to inequality in the distribution of the HDI dimension indices. Angola and Malawi show losses due to inequality of 31.7 percent and 28.6 percent, respectively. The average loss due to inequality for medium HDI countries is 26.3 percent and for Sub-Saharan Africa it is 30.5 percent. The Human inequality coefficient for Zambia is equal to 30.6 percent,” the report read.
Meanwhile, Zambia has recorded a gender inequality index of 0.539 ranking it 137 out of 162 countries.
“Zambia has a GII value of 0.539, ranking it 137 out of 162 countries in the 2019 index. In Zambia, 18.0 percent of parliamentary seats are held by women, and 38.5 percent of adult women have reached at least a secondary level of education compared to 54.1 percent of their male counterparts. For every 100,000 live births, 213.0 women die from pregnancy related causes; and the adolescent birth rate is 120.1 births per 1,000 women of ages 15-19. Female participation in the labour market is 70.4 percent compared to 79.1 for men. In comparison, Angola and Malawi are ranked at 132 and 142, respectively, on this index,” read the report.
