ASTANA – Kazakhstan ranked 58th among 189 countries and territories in the latest human development index (HDI) released Sept. 14 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The nation is on the list of countries in the very high human development category.

HDI is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: long and healthy life, access to knowledge and decent standard of living.

Kazakhstan registered 70 years in life expectancy at birth, 15.1 in expected years of schooling, 11.8 in mean years of schooling and $22,626 in per capita gross national income (GNI).

The nation’s HDI value grew from 0.69 to 0.8 from 1990-2017, an increase of 16 percent. Life expectancy at birth increased by 3.2 years; mean years of schooling grew 3.7 years and expected years of schooling increased by 2.7 years. Kazakhstan’s per capital GNI increased approximately 64.7 percent in the same time period, according to the report.

Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland and Germany lead the HDI ranking in national achievements in health, education and income. Fifty-nine nations are among those with a very high level of human development, with Estonia placing 30th, Poland (33rd), Lithuania (35th), Latvia (41st), Russia (49th) and Belarus (53rd).

Kazakhstan, the leader among Central Asian countries, is the only one to be included in the very high human development category. Uzbekistan (105th) and Turkmenistan (108th) were ranked in the high level of development; Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the average level of development at 122th and 127th, respectively.

The overall trend globally is towards continued human development improvements, with many countries advancing through the categories. Only 38 countries fall into the low HDI group, according to the report.