SL ranked No.50 in Human Capital Index

Sri Lanka is at No.50 in the worldwide Human Capital Index (HCI), which was launched today by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Finland topped the index which measures a country’s ability to nurture, develop and deploy talent for economic growth.
 
“The Index covers six countries in the South Asian region including Sri Lanka (50), Bhutan (91), Bangladesh (104), India (105), Nepal (108) and Pakistan (118). The overall average score for the region is 59.92,” the WEF stated.

The WEF stated that Sri Lanka was a bright spot for the region which benefited from strong educational enrolment and basic education completion rates as well as positive perceptions of the quality of its primary schools and education system overall (23rd on both).

However, it underperforms when it comes to translating the potential of its young population to the workforce, with one in four young people not active in employment, education or training.

The region’s most populous countries -- Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are held back by insufficient educational enrolment rates and poor quality primary schools. The youth literacy rate in the three countries stands at 83%, 89% and 75% respectively, far behind other emerging markets as well as.

Meanwhile, Norway, Switzerland, Canada and Japan were ranked 2 to 5 respectively while Mauritania ranked last in the list.