Bhutan ranks 136 in human development out of 187 countries, sharing the rank with Cambodia, the Human Development Report 2014, which was released recently stated.
The human development index (HDI) value for Bhutan is 0.584, which is close to the South Asian average of 0.588, but below the world average of 0.702. This puts Bhutan in the “medium human development” category along with 42 countries, including Bangladesh, India, and the Maldives.
The UNDP’s HDI measured average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development– a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living.
The report also ranked Bhutan 102 in gender inequality index, which is a measure of inequality in achievement between women and men in reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market.
An estimated 12 percent of the population is poor and poverty in rural areas is 16 percent higher than poverty in urban areas at 1.8 percent. Bhutan’s Multi-dimensional Poverty Report, 2012, revealed that the largest contributor to national poverty was deprived education at 43 percent.