The Network Herald newspaper has published a UN report which shows that the living standard of Ghanaians was better under Jerry Rawlings. An indication that the standard of living today under John Kufuor has fallen.

A United Nations report released Thursday has revealed that Ghana was a better place to live in 1995 and 2001than it is today.

It ranked Ghana 135th best country to live in the world, one place up from 2006, but still seven places down 128th in 2000 and 1995.

The report said that in spite of the overwhelming recognition of the country as a beacon of democracy, peace and stability in the sub-region, quality of life for most Ghanaians has not seen much improvement and has actually dipped from the highs of 2000.

The good news however was that the country's Human Development Index (HDI) value improved from 0.532 to 0.553, meaning she is getting closer to her highest rate of 0.555 and 0.556 in 1995 and 2000 respectively.

The HDI is launched by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), every year. It measures a country's performance in terms of improvement in life such as life expectancy, education, health and increase in real incomes.

The report described half of children living in drought prone areas of the northern regions as malnourished, compared with the 13 percent malnourished children located in Accra.

44.8% Ghanaians live on less than $1 per day income while 78.5% live below $2 per day.

The national poverty line stood at 39.5% in accordance with 2004 data.

Ghana is ranked among "medium human development" countries and territories, scoring less than Botswana (124), Namibia (l25), Gabon (119) and South Africa (121).

Ghana though scored better than Nigeria (158), Senegal (156) and any other country in West Africa.

Iceland, Norway, Australia, Canada and Ireland rank as the best five countries to live in while the 20 worst countries to live in are all from sub-Saharan Africa. The worst five are: Mali, Niger, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso with Sierra Leone at the bottom of the pack.

Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia were not included in the 177 countries ranked.

Selected Data for Ghana
(Last year's data in brackets))

• Life expectancy at birth = 59.l(57)

• Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and older) = 57.1(57.9)

• Combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio (%) = 50.7 (47.2)

• GDP per capita (PPP US$) = 2480 (2,240)

• Adult illiteracy 'rate (%ages 15 and older) 42.1 (42.2)

• % of People without access to an improved water source = 25 (25).


Source: Network Herald