New Zealand was ranked as fifth given its life expectancy of just over 80 years, a mean annual salary of 23,737 international dollars and a very high access to education.
New Zealand had the highest ranking in the Education Index - with a score of 1.00 on the scale and a mean of 12.5 years of schooling which increased by 0.9 years from 1980.
But in the Gender Inequality Index, it slips down the table and ranked at number 23 with a score of 0.195.
The UNDP evaluates countries' gender equality on a composite of reproductive health, years of schooling, parliamentary representation and participation in the workforce. At present, 33.6 per cent of the parliamentary seats are held by women and 71.6 per cent of adult women have attained at least a secondary school level of education.
For every 100,000 live births, 14 women die from pregnancy-related causes; and the adolescent fertility rate is 30.9 births per 100 live births. This is compared with the top ranked country, Norway, where women occupy 39.6 per cent of the seats in parliament and 99.3 per cent attain a secondary school level of schooling.
New Zealand did not submit its inequality and poverty data, meaning it was not included in either indexes which might have changed its fifth place in the HDI ranking.
The chief statistician for the Human Development Index, Milorad Kovacevi, said the report helped to better assess the levels of development for "all segments of society, rather than for just the mythical 'average' person".
"We consider health and education distribution to be just as important in this equation as income, and the data shows great inequalities in many countries."
The report said income distribution has worsened in most of the world - with Latin America the worst region.
New Zealand ranked just behind Norway, Australia, the Netherlands and the US in terms of human development.
Country ranked fifth in health, education and income
New Zealand is the fifth most developed nation in the world, according to a global report that ranks countries on their achievements in health, education and income.
In the 21st annual Human Development Index, released this week by the UN Development Programme, New Zealand was said to have "very high human development" and was ranked fifth out of 187 countries, though it was placed 23rd on gender equality.
The UNDP rated countries on their long-term progress in three dimensions of human development - a long and healthy life, access to education and a decent standard of living.
Norway, Australia, the Netherlands, the United States and New Zealand were the top five respectively, while Burundi, Niger and the Democratic Republic of the Congo came last.
Countries which were close to New Zealand in HDI rank and population size were Australia and Ireland, which had rankings of 2 and 7 respectively.
New Zealand was ranked as fifth given its life expectancy of just over 80 years, a mean annual salary of 23,737 international dollars and a very high access to education.
New Zealand had the highest ranking in the Education Index - with a score of 1.00 on the scale and a mean of 12.5 years of schooling which increased by 0.9 years from 1980.
But in the Gender Inequality Index, it slips down the table and ranked at number 23 with a score of 0.195.
The UNDP evaluates countries' gender equality on a composite of reproductive health, years of schooling, parliamentary representation and participation in the workforce. At present, 33.6 per cent of the parliamentary seats are held by women and 71.6 per cent of adult women have attained at least a secondary school level of education.
For every 100,000 live births, 14 women die from pregnancy-related causes; and the adolescent fertility rate is 30.9 births per 100 live births. This is compared with the top ranked country, Norway, where women occupy 39.6 per cent of the seats in parliament and 99.3 per cent attain a secondary school level of schooling.
New Zealand did not submit its inequality and poverty data, meaning it was not included in either indexes which might have changed its fifth place in the HDI ranking.
The chief statistician for the Human Development Index, Milorad Kovacevi, said the report helped to better assess the levels of development for "all segments of society, rather than for just the mythical 'average' person".
"We consider health and education distribution to be just as important in this equation as income, and the data shows great inequalities in many countries."
The report said income distribution has worsened in most of the world - with Latin America the worst region.
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