DOWN from 39th place last year, Slovakia ranked 42nd in the latest Human Development Report prepared by the United Nation's Development Programme (UNDP).
The SME daily wrote that the lower rank, however, is no cause for alarm because "Slovakia has improved in all indicators but its development was slower than in the other states that joined the EU," said Andrey Ivanov, the UNDP's human development advisor.
The chart is based on a human development index that includes economic and social data on each country such as GDP, lifespan, equal opportunities, access to healthcare and education, and other indicators.
Slovakia came in last compared to its neighbouring states. The Czech Republic ranked 32nd, Poland was 37th, and Hungary ended in 38th place.
