United Nations, New York, May 6, 2025 (Lusa) - Six of the nine members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) have risen in the UN Human Development Index ranking, with Portugal remaining in the highest category and Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique in the lowest.
The data are contained in the Human Development Report released on Tuesday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which shows that, among Portuguese-speaking countries, only Cabo Verde fell in the Human Development Index ranking, from 131st to 135th, in an assessment that focuses on the performance of countries in 2023.
In a ranking led by Iceland, Portugal now occupies 40th place, up from 42nd in the previous report, followed by Brazil in the list of CPLP countries with the best index, rising from 89th to 84th place.
Equatorial Guinea remained in 133rd place, Cabo Verde fell from 131st to 135th, São Tomé and Príncipe remained in 141st place and Timor-Leste rose from 155th to 142nd place.
Also on the list of Portuguese-speaking countries that rose in the UNDP ranking are Angola, which rose from 150th to 148th, Guinea-Bissau (from 179th to 174th) and, finally, Mozambique, which rose one position (from 183rd to 182nd).
Portugal is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the ‘very high’ Human Development category, Brazil is the only one in ‘high’, and Equatorial Guinea, Cabo Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola and Timor-Leste are on the list of countries that recorded ‘medium’ Human Development.
Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique are the CPLP members included in the ‘low’ Human Development category, which is closed by South Sudan in last place (193rd).
Sub-Saharan Africa is chronically the region with the lowest Human Development Index ranking in the world.
The data is included in the Human Development Report 2025 - ‘A Matter of Choice: People and Possibilities in the Age of Artificial Intelligence’ - which analyses progress on a range of indicators known as the Human Development Index (HDI), which encompasses achievements in health, education and income levels.
The document reveals stagnation in the HDI in all regions of the world, while showing that Artificial Intelligence (AI) "can reactivate development".
Instead of a sustained recovery after the exceptional crises of 2020-2021, the report reveals ‘surprisingly weak’ progress.
Excluding the crisis years of the Covid-19 pandemic, "global human development growth projected for this year is the lowest since 1990," the document says, pointing to a widening gap between rich and poor countries.
For the fourth consecutive year, inequality between countries with low and very high HDI continues to grow, reversing a long-term trend of narrowing disparities.
"Given this turbulent global scenario, we urgently need to explore new ways to boost development," said UNDP global chief Achim Steiner, pointing to the potential of AI: "While AI is not a magic solution, the choices we make could reignite human development and open up new paths and possibilities."
The availability of data for AI development in a country depends on several factors, such as data availability, which varies considerably between countries and regions.
According to the report, Sub-Saharan Africa is making progress in data availability and infrastructure, but still has major gaps.
These disparities stem from differences in government commitment to open data, data management capabilities and access to technology.
In March 2024, the United States hosted about half of the world's data centres, reflecting the concentration of this infrastructure.
"Although cloud computing loosens the link between the physical location of data centres and the use of data, only 5% of AI talent in Africa has access to the computing power for complex AI tasks," the report stresses.
However, the democratisation of AI is already underway, says the report, noting that about one in five respondents reported already using Artificial Intelligence.
MYMM/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
