Expert: Belarus can get into top 50 on UNDP Human Development Index soon

       Belarus can join the ranks of the Very High Human Development Index nations on the United Nations ranking by the end of the current five-year period, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, Professor Mikhail Kovalev, the Dean of the Faculty of Economics at the Belarusian State University, told BelTA when commenting on the UN 2014 Human Development Report. “Even if we do not improve our performance but just correctly present life expectancy data to the UN, then by the end of the current five-year period we can reach not only the 50th place, as we were planning, but join the list countries with Very High Human Development, of which there are now 49 in the world," said Mikhail Kovalev. As for the other indexes, the mean years of schooling index, according to the UN, is 11.5 years in Belarus. "By this index, we will soon approach the world leaders such as Sweden, Norway, Australia," said Mikhail Kovalev. GDP per capita in Belarus, according to the UN figures, is $16,400. "These are very good figures. All CIS countries are behind us, including partners in the future Eurasian Union," the expert noted. He also noted that Belarus is in the top positions on the United Nations social index, behind only Norway, Sweden and Slovakia.