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2008 Update
Human Development Indices: A statistical update 2008 was released on 18 December 2008.
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2008 Statistical Update
Austria
The Human Development Index - going beyond income
Each year since 1990 the Human Development Report Office has published the human development index (HDI) which looks beyond GDP to a broader definition of well-being. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and enrolment at the primary, secondary and tertiary level) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income). The index is not in any sense a comprehensive measure of human development. It does not, for example, include important indicators such as gender or income inequality and more difficult to measure indicators like respect for human rights and political freedoms. What it does provide is a broadened prism for viewing human progress and the complex relationship between income and well-being.
The HDI for Austria is 0.951, which gives the country a rank of 14th out of 179 countries with data (Table 1).
| Table 1: Austria's human development index 2006 and underlying indicators in comparison with selected countries. | ||||
| HDI value 2006 | Life expectancy at birth (years) 2006 | Combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio (%) 2006 | GDP per capita (PPP US$) 2006 | |
| 1. Iceland (0.968) | 1. Japan (82.4) | 1. Australia (114.2) | 1. Luxembourg (77,089) | |
| 12. Finland (0.954) | 13. Norway (79.9) | 24. Estonia (91.2) | 13. Netherlands (36,099) | |
| 13. Denmark (0.952) | 14. Singapore (79.7) | 25. Uruguay (90.9) | 14. Iceland (35,814) | |
| 14. Austria (0.951) | 15. Austria (79.6) | 26. Austria (90.5) | 15. Austria (35,523) | |
| 15. United States (0.950) | 16. Netherlands (79.4) | 27. Bahrain (90.4) | 16. Denmark (35,125) | |
| 16. Spain (0.949) | 17. Germany (79.3) | 28. Hungary (90.2) | 17. Bahrain (34,516) | |
| 179. Sierra Leone (0.329) | 179. Swaziland (40.2) | 179. Djibouti (25.5) | 178. Congo (Democratic Republic of the) (281) | |
NB Changes in HDI values and ranks between two reports result from revisions to data for each of the HDI’s three components (4 indicators) as well as real changes in the level of human development in different countries. The data revisions this year – especially of the GDP per capita (PPP US$) series – have resulted in more substantial apparent movements in the HDI than is normally the case between successive publications. For these reasons, HDI values and rankings are not comparable across different publications.
Building the capabilities of women
The HDI measures average achievements in a country, but it does not incorporate the degree of gender imbalance in these achievements. The gender-related development index (GDI), introduced in Human Development Report 1995, measures achievements in the same dimensions using the same indicators as the HDI but captures inequalities in achievement between women and men. It is simply the HDI adjusted downward for gender inequality. The greater the gender disparity in basic human development, the lower is a country's GDI relative to its HDI.
To measure the impact of gender inequalities on human development achievement, Austria's GDI value, 0.929 can be compared to its HDI value of 0.951. Its GDI value is 97.7% of its HDI value. Out of the 157 countries with both HDI and GDI values, 128 countries have a better ratio than Austria's.
Table 2 shows how Austria’s ratio of GDI to HDI compares to other countries, and also shows its values for selected underlying indicators in the calculation of the GDI.
| Table 2: The GDI compared to the HDI – a measure of gender disparity | |||
| GDI as % of HDI | Life expectancy at birth (years) 2006 | Combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio 2006 | |
| Female as % male | Female as % male | ||
| 1. Sweden (99.9%) | 1. Russian Federation (123.1%) | 1. United Arab Emirates (120.2%) | |
| 127. Mali (97.8%) | 57. Jamaica (107.7%) | 61. Brunei Darussalam (103.6%) | |
| 128. Mozambique (97.8%) | 58. Barbados (107.6%) | 62. Canada (103.4%) | |
| 129. Austria (97.7%) | 59. Austria (107.4%) | 63. Austria (103.4%) | |
| 130. Kuwait (97.7%) | 60. Peru (107.4%) | 64. Belgium (103.3%) | |
| 131. Nepal (97.7%) | 61. Hong Kong, China (SAR) (107.3%) | 65. Jordan (103.2%) | |
| 157. Occupied Palestinian Territories (92.8%) | 157. Niger (96.9%) | 157. Chad (60.4%) | |
The gender empowerment measure (GEM) reveals whether women take an active part in economic and political life. It tracks the share of seats in parliament held by women; of female legislators, senior officials and managers; and of female professional and technical workers- and the gender disparity in earned income, reflecting economic independence. Differing from the GDI, the GEM exposes inequality in opportunities in selected areas.
Austria ranks 19th out of 108 countries in the GEM, with a value of 0.748.
