Barbados Ahead of the Pack as the Most Competitive Country in the Caribbean
Barbados steps ahead of much of the rest of the Caribbean Basin, including the English-speaking Caribbean islands, in terms of its quality of life. The United Nations’ annual Human Development Report (HDR) showcases the Human Development Index (HDI) principles. Over the past two decades, it has been ranking its 187 member states and regions, while providing data on the measurement of three basic societal dimensions: health, education, and income. Barbados, a tourist destination with a population of approximately 280,000, has an HDI of 0.793, which translates to a rank of 47 out of 187 countries, leading all of the other English-speaking islands in its qualitative ranking in 2011; this represents an impressive improvement in its standing over the previous year.
With respect to the Caribbean and Latin American region, Barbados, which was deemed the only “developed” country in the 2010 HDR and labeled by the Commonwealth Secretariat’s 2011 economic report as “the most competitive country in the Caribbean”, is above average for the region (0.731) and merits being placed in the ‘Very High Human Development’ category. Barbados is ranked third throughout the Americas and Caribbean for its HDI and first in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index.
This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Melissa Beale.
To read the full analysis, click here.
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