Vietnam is among the countries with the highest human development index (HDI) (0.63) and needs 0.007 points to be in the group of high HDI countries, the Government Portal quoted a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report as saying.

UNDP's Human Development Report 2019 has provided an overview of the diversity of inequalities that shape the world in the 21st century and how to tackle the issue.

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Currently, Vietnam ranks 118th out of 189 countries, making good progress in human development, with an average HDI growth at 1.36% during the period of 1990 - 2018, the report said.

It added that Vietnam has achieved good results in terms of gender equality. With a gender development index of 1.003, Vietnam ranks among the top five groups of 166 countries worldwide, ranking 68th out of 162 countries in terms of gender development. Especially, Vietnam is in the top one third of the world's leading countries in the proportion of women in its National Assembly.

The report has also analyzed and addressed gender gaps and inequalities between population groups and geographical areas. Vietnam's analytical data has shown that despite significant progress at the national level, ethnic minority groups still lag behind in many aspects of human capacity, especially in terms of life expectancy, health and education (vocational training at the level of tertiary education).

UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen said that the Human Development Report 2019 has revealed a new generation of emerging inequalities surrounding technology issues, education and climate crisis, as well as proposed new ways to measure and access these inequalities.

Vietnam was right to consistently choose human-centered development and equality in the country's socio-economic development strategies and plans, Caitlin Wiesen stressed.

She added that Vietnam has achieved remarkable growth in human development since 1990 with slowly-increased inequality. Based on the HDI adjusted for inequality, Vietnam ranked nine levels higher than its position in 2018.