Chile falls two spots to 40th place in the UN human development ranking

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BRASILIA.- According to the United Nation's latest Human Development Index (HDI), Chile occupies the 40th position, after falling 2 spots compared to 2006 and, in Latin America, has only been surpassed by Argentina.

On a global level, Iceland narrowly passed Norway as the country with the highest index, according to the most recent list (which included 177 countries), which was announced today by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The HDI measures achievement in terms of life expectancy, education levels, GDP per capita and access to basic services, such as drinking water.

Norway had topped the list for the last four years, while, besides Chile and Argentina, some other Latin American countries with high a Human Development Index are Uruguay (46), Costa Rica (48), Cuba (51) and Mexico (52).

Guatemala, which found itself in 118th place, is the worst ranked Latin American country. African nations are the only ones included in the group of countries with a low HDI.