DEVELOPMENT
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equal dimensions (see, for example, the OECD’s Better<br />
Life Index: http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/). In addition<br />
to its ideological suitability, the HDI’s popularity and<br />
authority are increased by the fact that an authoritative<br />
UN sub-organisation (UNDP) is in charge of the constant<br />
updating of the indicators. Thus, the UN Human Development<br />
Index has become an estimable instrument of<br />
policymaking.<br />
1.1.2.<br />
Two decades in the mirror of human<br />
development<br />
The Human Development Index has also become a means<br />
of introspection for Estonia. Twenty years is a long enough<br />
period of time for drawing conclusions about Estonia’s<br />
human development in the global context. Table 1.1.1<br />
shows the change in Estonia’ rankings based on the HDI<br />
values that have been recalculated based on the changes<br />
in methodology made in 2010.<br />
Estonia’s 24th position in 1990 may not be very<br />
comparable with the others due to the nature of the<br />
economy at the time and the quality of the statistical data<br />
reflecting it. We can also state that in the early 2000s<br />
we underwent strong development, and thereafter, have<br />
remained around 30 th in the world. Our position has been<br />
shifted backward in the last few years primarily because<br />
Singapore, as well as Liechtenstein and Andorra, were<br />
recently (2009 and 2010, respectively) added the countries<br />
monitored by the UNDP, and they are ranked ahead<br />
of us in the HDI.<br />
Estonia’s HDI value for 2012 is 0.846, which places<br />
us 33 rd position, along with Andorra, compared to 187<br />
countries and territories (Table 1.1.2).<br />
Table 1.1.3 shows that in the period between 1990<br />
and 2012, Estonia has made noteworthy progress in all<br />
the indicators that form the basis for calculating the HDI<br />
according to the current method, as well as in regard<br />
to the HDI values. Estonia’s life expectancy at birth has<br />
increased 5.6 years, the means years of schooling 2.7<br />
years and the gross national income per capita by 71%.<br />
1.1.3.<br />
Trends and prospects<br />
The UN Human Development Index time-series data,<br />
encompassing, by now, more than 20 years, allows<br />
countries to be compared on the basis of the dynamics<br />
of human development indicators. The HDI’s change<br />
curves in time express the speed and uniformity of the<br />
achievement of success and the impact of sporadic setbacks.<br />
If, in the promotion of human development, we<br />
wish to learn from the achievements of other countries,<br />
it makes sense to look for countries that are, more or<br />
less, similar to us, and have demonstrated relatively<br />
rapid human development. Firstly, in this way, we can<br />
place ourselves in yet another system of references, and<br />
assess our success among those similar to us. Secondly,<br />
it would be worthwhile to choose countries whose economic<br />
and social policies we could analyse and assess<br />
more closely from the aspect of possibly adapting certain<br />
elements of their system of functioning.<br />
Table 1.1.3<br />
Changes in Estonia’s human development index and its<br />
basic indicators, 1990-2012<br />
Life expectancy<br />
at birth (years)<br />
Mean years of<br />
schooling (years)<br />
Expected years of<br />
schooling (years)<br />
Gross national income<br />
(GNI) per capita<br />
(2005 PPP US dollars)<br />
Human<br />
development index<br />
1990 69.4 9.3 12.8 10,181 0.728<br />
2000 70.2 11.7 15.0 11,137 0.786<br />
2005 72.7 11.9 16.1 15,920 0.830<br />
2010 74.6 12.0 15.8 15,788 0.839<br />
2011 74.8 12.0 15.8 16,980 0.844<br />
2012 75.0 12.0 15.8 17,402 0.846<br />
Source: UNDP 2013<br />
Below, the dynamics of Estonia’s human development<br />
has first been compared to the averages of the group of<br />
countries that have, according to the HDI, very high and<br />
high human development levels, and thereafter, with<br />
selected reference countries. This group of so-called<br />
“reference countries” consists of successful small countries<br />
from various regions of the world, whose cultural<br />
background and level of development generally do not<br />
differ greatly from ours. These are:<br />
• from Central and Eastern Europe – Slovakia, the<br />
Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia;<br />
• from Western and Northern Europe – Ireland, Switzerland,<br />
the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland;<br />
• from the rest of the world – New Zealand, South<br />
Korea, Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica.<br />
Based on the database of the 2013 global Human Development<br />
Report, graphs have been compiled that show<br />
the Estonian trends in comparison to the given countries,<br />
based on the HDI and its three sub-indices. In order to<br />
make the diagrams easier to read, a limited selection of<br />
the reference countries is included on each diagram.<br />
Between 1990 and 2012, Estonia, in the HDI comparison<br />
with countries with a very high as well as with<br />
a high level of human development, has increased faster<br />
than the average, and has therefore approached the average<br />
of countries with a very high level of development<br />
(Figure 1.1.1).<br />
In Figure 1.1.2, the development of Estonia’s human<br />
development index is compared to the fastest developers<br />
in the groups of reference countries. Compared to the<br />
reference countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the<br />
speed of Estonia’s development was comparable to that<br />
of Slovenia, the leader of the group. In comparison to the<br />
Western and Northern European countries, the pace of<br />
Estonia’s development has been comparable to that of Ireland,<br />
the leader of this group of countries. However, hav-<br />
10<br />
Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013