According to the World Bank’s Human Capital Index (HCI), which measures the development of human capital in the world, Serbia is at the top in our region.
This index conditionally measures the productivity of the future generation of workers in the countries of the world according to the criteria of the quality of education and health of children and youth from birth to their 18th birthday.
With an index of 0.68, in relation to the maximum possible 1.0 points, Serbia is in third place, together with Hungary, in terms of human capital development among 11 economies in the region, according to the WB report on the Human Capital Index during the Covid 19 pandemic.
This means that a child born today in Serbia will have a 68% productivity if he completes a complete education and is in good health.
Serbia is ahead of Serbia with an HCI index of 0.77 and Croatia with 0.71.
Behind Serbia and Hungary, which share third place, are Montenegro and Albania with an index of 0.63, Bulgaria (0.61), Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina (0.58 each), Kosovo and Metohija (0.57), while Northern Macedonia lags behind in the region with an index of 0.56.
The World Bank report states that young people in Europe and Central Asia have the necessary opportunities to grow into productive adults thanks to investments in health and education during their childhood and adolescence.
However, it warns that the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to jeopardize progress so far, as governments struggle to maintain health and education services during a period of restrictions to protect public health, including school closures, B92 reports.
