RP has higher development index but still lags in East Asia

The Philippines improved its ranking in the human development index (HDI) but remained among the laggards in East Asia, according to the 2007-2008 Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Philippines ranked 90 in the latest index, 11 places higher than it ranked in the previous report, which has been published yearly since 1990. The HDI goes beyond the gross domestic product of a country to measure the well-being of its people, according to the UNDP site. It's a composite of three measures – length of life and health, educational attainment, and standard of living (as measured by factors like income and purchasing power). The report includes data for 175 UN member states. Details for the Philippines are posted in the UNDP site. In the top 10 of the HDI are (in descending order) Iceland, Norway, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, The Netherlands, and France. Other Asian countries in the region that have a high HDI include Hong Kong (at 21), Singapore (25), South Korea (26), Brunei Darussalam (30), and Malaysia (63). The other East Asian countries which had medium human development were Thailand (78), China (81), Vietnam (105), and Indonesia (107). - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV