The Zurich region ranks first in the world for human development

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Non-Zurich residents must now be strong: because the Zurich region is a benchmark for human development. But it's not quite what you think. Because the people of Zurich are not the highest glory of human creation, nor are they the measure of all things in the theory of evolution.

They are “uniquely” ranked first in the Human Development Index (HDI), a measure of prosperity. This was initiated by the United Nations in 1990 because the prosperity of a country or region was not fully reflected in the gross domestic product.

The Human Development Index therefore takes into account not only gross national income per capita, but also life expectancy at birth and years of schooling based on the number of years a person aged 25 has completed schooling, as well as expected years of schooling. Duration of education for school-age children.

Rankings are calculated based on these individual indicators, allowing the average level of development of a country to be derived. The Zurich region ranks highest out of 1,621 regions worldwide. High incomes and long life expectancy are important reasons for good performance.

London follows in second place, and the region around Oslo, the Norwegian capital, also climbs into third place.

Among Switzerland's seven main regions, the Lake Geneva region, northwest Switzerland, Ticino and central Switzerland also made the top 25. Espace Mittelland could only rank 28th, while Eastern Switzerland ranked “only” 46th.

The final positions were three regions in Chad and six regions in Somalia. The two African countries join South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Niger at the bottom of the country rankings.

Switzerland tops the list for the second time in a row. Previously, Norway had led the way for 14 consecutive years. Iceland topped the list twice (2005 and 2006), Canada held the majority in the 1990s, and Japan twice topped the list.

How meaningful the Human Development Index is remains a controversial topic. At issue, for example, is the weight given to various aspects of human development. He has also been accused of cutting jobs because the indicator recorded in the Human Development Index correlates closely with gross national income per capita.

The fact that ecological considerations are not taken into account is also increasingly criticized. For example, WWF criticizes the fact that all countries with high levels of human development currently have particularly bad CO2 emissions.₂-Balance sheet. Since intact ecosystems are also the basis for human well-being and longevity, WWF believes that the Ecological Footprint should not be ignored as another factor in the Human Development Index.

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