Qatar Tops Arab Region in Human Development Report 2016

Doha, March 22 (QNA) - Qatar ranked first in the Arab region and 33rd globally in the Human Development Report 2016: Human Development for Everyone, issued by United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The report reveals the statistics of countries in the human development field and explains the progress Qatar witnessed in the areas of social, economic and environmental development. According to the report, Qatar's Global State of Human Development value increased to 0.856 in 2016 as opposed to 0.855 in 2015. The average life expectancy at birth is 78.3 and literacy rate from both genders increased from 96.7 percent in 2015 to 97.8 percent in 2016, whereas the rate of enrollment in higher education increased from 14 percent in 2015 to 16 percent in 2016. The labor force participation rate for above 15 years is 84.6 percent and the rate of unemployment for the age group 15-24 decreased from 1.1 percent in 2015 to 0.8 percent in 2016. The internet users' rate increased from 91.5 percent to 92.9 in 2016, closely competing with Netherlands (93.1 percent), Finland (92.7 percent) and U.K. (92 percent). Despite average of the total fertility rate between the years of 2010-2015 decreased to 2.1 however it remains higher than Norway (1.8), Hong Kong (1.2) and Singapore (1.3). HE Minister of Development Planning and Statistics Dr. Saleh bin Mohammed Al Nabet praised Qatar's high ranking stating that it reflects the human development witnessed by Qatar under the leadership of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. He also praised the developmental work of the ministries, managements and private institutions who also provided the statistics that reflected the advancement shown in the report. He hoped to achieve higher rankings next year and urged all organizations to continue providing the data required to the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics to be forwarded to the U.N. who observes and issues reports on countries' developments. (QNA)