The latest United Nations report has reported that decades of progress in terms of life expectancy, education, and economic prosperity have declined since the pandemic.
The UN’s Human Development Index reports that since 2020, 9 out of 10 countries have slid backward with the blame heaped on Covid-19, the Ukraine war, and the climate change impact.
According to the UN, the Human Development Index was created to highlight that people and their capabilities should be the main criteria for assessing the development of a country and not economic growth alone.
Switzerland is high on the index in 2022 with a life expectancy of 84 years, showing that an average of 16.5 years were spent in education and the average salary was $66,000.
Meanwhile, South Sudan is at the bottom of the list with a life expectancy of 55, showing that individuals spend only 5 and a half years in school on average and earn $768 a year, on average. In the US, the life expectancy at birth has decreased by over two years since 2019. In other countries, however, the decline is much higher.
