The Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis is leading the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the 2023-24 Human Development Report (HDR).

The report, released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Wednesday, under the title: “Breaking the Gridlock: Re-imagining Cooperation in a Polarized World,” highlights a country’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, education, and life expectancy.

According to the report, Saint Kitts and Nevis emerged as the highest-ranked Caricom country, securing the fifty-first (51st) position among one hundred and ninety-three (193) nations surveyed, with an HDI index of 0.838 in 2023, marking a 0.006 percent improvement from the 2021 figure.

In the CARICOM region, Saint Kitts and Nevis’ achievement was followed by Antigua and Barbuda at 54 with an HDI index of 0.826, and The Bahamas at 57 with an HDI index of 0.920. Trinidad and Tobago secured the 60th position with an HDI index of 0.814, followed by Barbados at 62 with an HDI index of 0.809. Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Guyana, Dominica, St. Lucia, Jamaica, Belize, Suriname, and Haiti were also featured in the report.

The UNDP’s findings spotlight the challenges faced by Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region, particularly noting the significant drop in HDI during 2020-2021. The report emphasizes the need for social protection and resilience-building efforts to mitigate the impacts of such crises on human development trajectories.