Bulgaria's Human Development Standing Quite Low - Why?

I just don’t know where they get these figures from. My experience here in Bulgaria leads me to believe that there is a healthier way of life than the UK, which is graded at around the mid 20s. I am more than happy to live with these figures that belie what I see and experience on ground level here. I suppose they must have taken the gypsy communities into account here, which is certain to weigh heavily on Bulgaria’s standing in this league.

Bulgaria is 61st globally in the annual Human Development Index ranking released Monday by the UN.

The index compiled by the UN Development Program (UNDP) ranks 182 countries based on such criteria as life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

According to the index, Norway is the most attractive country, whereas Niger has the worst performance. The 2009 UN Development Index is based on data from 2007.

Norway, Australia, and Iceland are the places with the best living standards, whereas Afghanistan and Sierra Leone are at the bottom of the ranking together with Niger.

Bulgaria’s 61st position is based on its human development index of 0,840; this is an increase from 2000, when the figure was 0,803. The countries with indexes above 0,900 are defined as countries with very high human development.

Bulgaria is ranked 67th under the life expectancy criteria (73,1 years), 26th under adult literacy rate (98,3%), 49th under combined gross enrolment ratio (82,4%), and 69th under GDP per capita (USD 11 222 per capita - purchasing power parity).

Of Bulgaria’s neighbours, Greece is ranked 25th, Romania – 63rd, Montenegro – 65th, Serbia – 67th, Albania – 70th, Macedonia – 72nd, and Turkey – 79th.

Source: www.novinite.com