ARMENIA AHEAD OF NEIGHBORS IN UN WELFARE RATINGS

AZG DAILY
28-10-2009

UN-Armenia

Armenia – Consuelo Vidal, head of the UN office in Yerevan, presents
the UN Human Development Report, 27Oct, 2009

Armenia remained ahead of three of its four neighbors in the United
Nations’ latest index of people’s well-being around the world.

The Human Development Index (HDI), based on 2007 data, rated 182
countries in terms of their Gross Domestic Product per capita, life
expectancy, access to healthcare and education standards. Armenia
occupies 84th place in the rankings topped by Norway Australia and
Iceland, a slight improvement over the UN’s previous Human Development
Report issued two years ago.

"This improvement is largely due to the increase in GDP per capita,"
Consuelo Vidal, head of the UN office in Yerevan, said, presenting
the 2009 report. "Between 1990 and 2007 Armenia’s HDI rose by 0.51
percent annually."

Vidal noted that Armenia holds the first place in the report’s "Medium
Human Development" category and is followed by Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

Iran and Georgia are in 88th and 89th places respectively. Armenia’s
fourth neighbor, Turkey, is 79th in the rankings.

Armenia’s GDP per capita more than quadrupled, in nominal dollar terms,
to roughly $4,300 between 2002 and 2008 on the back of double-digit
economic growth that significantly reduced the official poverty
rate. The International Monetary Fund expects the figure to tumble
to $3,000 this year because of the ongoing economic recession and
the resulting depreciation of the national currency, the dram.

For its part, the World Bank predicted earlier this year that the
recession will increase the proportion of Armenians living below the
official poverty line will from 22 percent to at least 26 percent by
2010, azatutyun.am reports.