Human Development Report 2005 - International cooperation at a crossroads - Aid, trade and security in an unequal world

Ireland is effectively the wealthiest country in the world in GDP terms and has risen to eighth place in a prestigious world table for human development.

Luxembourg has the highest per capita GDP because a large proportion of its workforce lives beyond its borders.

The 2005 Human Development Report, published by the UN Development Programme on Wednesday, reports Irish GDP per head of $37,738 (€30,375).

However, the report also shows that among the world's wealthiest countries, Ireland was one of the most unequal, with the third-highest level of poverty in 18 industrialised countries surveyed.

In 2005, Ireland rose two places to eighth in the Human Development Index, ahead of ehe US, Japan, Belgium and the Netherlands but behind Luxembourg and Switzerland.

Norway was ranked first in the index, which is viewed as a leading global measure of quality of life in 177 countries.

The report includes a section entitled: Two tales of Irish poverty which questioned the accuracy of "relative poverty" indicators in rapidly growing economies like Ireland.

It noted that social transfers had risen substantially in Ireland "so pensioners, for example, saw their living standards improve markedly though they still lagged behind rapidly rising incomes resulting from employment and profits.

"Whether this represents 'pro-poor economic growth' remains debatable," the report stated.

The report estimates that 15.2 per cent of Irish people lived in poverty. Only Italy and the US had a higher poverty rate among 18 industrialised countries surveyed.

In addition, Ireland has the second highest rate of illiteracy, after Italy, with 22.6 per cent of the population lacking functional literacy skills.

The report also refers to relatively low levels of investment in education and health in Ireland. Some $2,367 per capita was spent on health in 2002 compared to $5,274 per capita in the US.

In general, the report found Ireland to be one of the most unequal countries in the developed world, with the richest 10 per cent of the population having 9.7 times more wealth than the poorest 10 per cent.

Of the top 30 most developed countries in the world, only the US, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Portugal were said to be more unequal.

The report warned that in very unequal societies, economic growth "may have little impact" on reducing poverty, adding "far more attention should be paid to creating conditions under which the poor can increase their share of future national income gains".

The 20 least developed countries in the world were all African, with Niger, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso coming in last on the index.

Click for the Country Fact Sheet Ireland ( Word document)

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Norway at top, Ireland in 8th place, Niger at bottom of 2005 Human Development Index