St. Kitts & Nevis - October 14, 2009 (WINN):  This year's United Nations Human Development Index that refers to 2007, for Saint Kitts and Nevis is 0.838, which gives the country a rank of 62nd out of 182 countries with data.

The top Caribbean countries are: Barbados ranked at 37, Antigua and Barbuda at 47, Cuba at 51, the Bahamas at 52 and St Kitts and Nevis at 62.

The report states that Saint Kitts and Nevis has an emigration rate of 44.3%.  The major continent of destination for migrants from Saint Kitts and Nevis is North America, with 37.3% of emigrants living there.

In Saint Kitts and Nevis, there are 4.5 thousand migrants which represent 9.2% of the total population.

In 2007, US$37 million in remittances was sent to Saint Kitts and Nevis.  Average remittances per person were US$739, compared with the average for Latin America and the Caribbean of US$114.

Adult literacy rate was 97.8 percent for people 15 years and over. 

The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income).

The index is not in any sense a comprehensive measure of human development. It does not, for example, include important indicators such as gender or income inequality nor more difficult to measure concepts like respect for human rights and political freedoms.

What it does provide is a broadened prism for viewing human progress and the complex relationship between income and well-being.