Brazil: The Human Development Index (HDI) has risen again after two years

Brazil has interrupted a two-year streak of decline in the Human Development Index (HDI). However, the indicator still remains below pre-pandemic levels.

This is shown in the Human Development Report (HDR), released this Wednesday (13) by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) of the United Nations (UN).

Brazil has interrupted a two-year streak of decline in the Human Development Index (HDI). However, according to the latest numbers, the indicator still remains below pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, the global trend of increasing political polarization can be observed in Brazil, hindering the improvement of the population’s quality of life.
The HDI is an indicator that aims to measure the quality of life in a country, based on factors such as life expectancy, years of schooling, and per capita income.

The scale ranges from 0 to 1, with the index closer to 1 indicating a better quality of life in that nation.

Brazil’s HDI reached 0.760, higher than in 2020 (0.758) and 2021 (0.754), but still lower than the level it had been since 2018. The result from two years ago kept the country among those with high human development. Nations with similar HDI include Peru, Azerbaijan, and North Macedonia. It is a level below the highest tier where nations with very high human development are situated.

Brazil’s recovery also followed the global trend, as the global HDI rose after two years of decline. However, the country’s position within the ranking worsened, with Brazil’s HDI dropping from the 87th position in 2021 to the 89th.

Furthermore, Brazil is part of a context of increasing global political polarization, according to Pedro Conceição, Director of the Human Development Report Office at UNDP. The negative impact of polarization on improving the quality of life is precisely the theme of the report released this Wednesday.

“What seems to be happening is that there is a greater process around the world, where the population feels alienated,” he said.