Bangkok - China and Venezuela were the two top gainers in terms of human development in 2007, despite their not-so-democratic regimes, the United Nations Development Programme revealed Monday. China and Venezuela moved up seven and four places, respectively, on the Human Development Index (HDI) 2007, released as part of the UNDP's annual Human Development Report 2009.
The human development index is intended to measure people's "well-being," combining data on life expectancy, literacy, school enrollment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in 182 countries.
On this year's HDI, China was ranked 92 and Venezuela ranked 58.
"China is not a democracy, but its obvious what's happening in terms of human development," UNDP Administrator Helen Clark told a press conference in Bangkok.
China's sharp jump in 2007 was attributed mainly to a significant increase in per capita income that year, UNDP chief author Jeni Klugman said.
Venezuela has been led by leftist President Hugo Chavez for the past decade. Chavez, an outspoken critic of globalization and former US President George Bush, has pursued socialist policies at home - financed by Venezuela's oil revenues - aimed at combatting disease, illiteracy, malnutrition and poverty.
The top 10 countries on the HDI 2007 were Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.
The USA was ranked 13, down a point from 2006.
On the bottom of the index were Sierra Leone (180), Afghanistan (181) and Niger (182).
The latest HDI index was compiled before the global financial crisis struck in 2008.
"With respect to the future, clearly those countries which have suffered a contraction during the recession will see an impact on HDI," Klugman said.
"Clearly if the Asian region recovers more quickly than the industrialized countries that will help to close the income gap," she added.
