Russia was included in the group of countries with the highest level of human development. This is reported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The presentation of the report took place at the UN headquarters in New York.

In total the rating included 189 countries among which Russia took 49th place. The group of countries with a very high level of human development comprised 59 states, of which the countries of the near abroad included Estonia (30th), Poland (33rd), Lithuania (35th), Latvia (41st place), Belarus (53rd place) and Kazakhstan (58th place).

The rating is headed by Norway. The top three also included Switzerland and Australia.

Many former Soviet Union countries came to the next group of states – with a high level of development. Georgia took 70th place, Azerbaijan – 80th, Armenia – 83rd, Ukraine – 88th, Uzbekistan was on the 105th position, and Turkmenistan – on the 108th position. Moldova and Tajikistan fell into the category of states with an average level of development and settled at 112th and 127th places respectively.

The Human Development Index is an indicator calculated annually for the intercountry measurement of the quality of life. The score is based on three main indicators: life expectancy, literacy level of population and standard of living.