National Human Development Report Estonia: 2001

The present report, in the context of comparisons with other countries, could be said to contain two items of news about Estonia. The good news is that Estonia’s place among countries with a high human development has been consolidated. Whereas last year we held 46th place among the countries of the world, then this year we are 44th (Human Development Report, 2001). The rise in the Estonian human development index is due to the increase of the country’s GDP per capita, which in comparative prices is now 8355 US dollars. However, the bad news is that to a certain extent the good news is misleading. In fact, the human development index is an aggregate indicator that inevitably remains superficial, hiding very serious social problems. According to several important indicators of human development (e.g. life expectancy), Estonia still belongs to the developing countries category.