The United Nations discovered that, in the past two years, many countries have regressed in life expectancy, earnings, and education, which corresponds with the global COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown policies advocated by the likes of the World Health Organization (WHO).
As BBC reported, the United Nations’ Human Development Index found that nine of out ten counties have regressed since 2020.
At the top, Switzerland recorded a life expectancy of 84 years, an average of 16.5 years spent in education and median salary of $66,000. But contrast Switzerland’s results with South Sudan, which has a life expectancy of is 55 years of age, 5.5 years spent in school, and only $768 in annual earnings.
BBC noted, “Setbacks in a majority of the 191 countries included in the index, especially in life expectancy, have taken development levels back to those seen in 2016, reversing a 30-year trend.” The state-run British news outlet said that the United Nations blamed “the impact of climate change,” the Ukraine war and COVID-19 for the regression in the index.
The index noted that U.S. life expectancy dropped by two years since 2019, but other countries saw a higher drop in the same time period. Also, this marks the second-straight year when the index saw declines in all categories since its inception in the 1990s.
