Bhutan improved its ranking by five places in the Human Development Index (HDI),  with the country ranked at 129th place among 189 nations, reported the national newspaper Kuensel. Earlier it was placed at 134th place in 2019.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) released its ranking on Wednesday. Among the medium HDI nations, Bhutan ranked in 10th place. India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh are also among the nations featured in the mid-HDI grouping.

The report, titled “The Next Frontier: Human Development and Anthropocene, focussed on improving the development index without putting “immense pressure on the planet.” Azuka Kubota, the UNDP’s Bhutan representative, said amid the increasing inequality in the wake of Covid-19, “we need to redefine what we mean by progress.”

Bhutan’s Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji said, the theme resonated with his country’s developmental philosophy of Gross National Happiness. “Guided by our successive visionary monarchs, Bhutan continues to accord high importance to the health of our natural ecosystem. Our rich and pristine environment stands testimony to that,” the Minister was quoted as saying by Kuensel.

Bhutan has long chosen the path of future on the theme the UNDP adopted this year, the minister said, highlighting Bhutan’s way of development in coherence with nature.