The report, which was presented at UN headquarters in New York, lists the Human Development Index of 189 countries or territories, classifying them as “very high”, “high”, “medium” or “low”, based on data from 2017.
With an HDI of 0.847 (out of a maximum of 1), Portugal has moved up one place from 42nd - a recalculated ranking for 2016 based on new indicators, since its original ranking for that year had been 41st. But it remains in the lower half of the 58 countries and territories deemed to have a “very high” level of human development.
Back in 2015 Portugal was near the bottom of the list of 50 countries with the highest level of human development, and was one of the lowest-ranked members of the European Union.
According to the report, Norway is the world’s most-developed country based on HDI.
The 2017 HDI was based on indicators including health, education, employment, national wealth, safety and perception of well-being. Factors such as female emancipation and environmental and socioeconomic sustainability were also assessed.
Portugal last year had a life expectancy of 81.4 years - better than several more-developed countries, including fifth-placed Germany (81.2 years), 11th-placed Denmark (80.9 years), in 11th place and 13th-placed US (79.5 years).
However, Portugal is also one of 15 countries with “very high” HDI whose population is set to shrink, according to the scenario outlined in the UNDP report - from 10.3 million people last year to 9.9 million in 2030.
Where education is concerned, Portugal is the country in the group of countries with “very high” level of development whose people in 2017 had the fourth fewest years of schooling, at 9.2.