Above: the Bahamas (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

What are the most developed countries in the Caribbean, according to the United Nations Development Programme?

The UNDP just released its annual Human Development Report, which scores countries on a Human Development Index by looking at factors from life expectancy at birth and the mean number of years of schooling in a country to gross national income per capita and others.

Cuba led the region, ranked 44th in the world and the only Caribbean country in the “very high human development” group of countries.

The Bahamas led CARICOM countries in human development, ranked 51st in the world, just after Uruguay and ahead of Montenegro.

The rest of the region was ranked in the “high human development” category, with the exception of Guyana and Haiti, which were both in the “medium human development” category.

St Lucia had the largest year-to-year drop of any country in the region, falling four spots to 97th in the world, just after Jamaica and ahead of Colombia.

Jamaica itself fell three slots to 96th in the world, just after Albania.

A total of 187 countries were ranked on the list. (Note: only sovereign countries were ranked on the UN list).

For the full list of Caribbean countries ranked on the list, see below: