The Bahamas and Barbados have been rated as the top countries in the Caribbean in terms of improvements in human development.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in its just-released 2020 Human Development Index (HDI), ranked The Bahamas and Barbados tied in the 58th spot in the world and tops the list of Caribbean countries.

The Bahamas improved two places from 60 to 58 after jumping 16 spots in the last HDI, while Barbados, which was the highest in the region last year, fell two places from 56 to 58, after dropping one spot in the previous ranking.

In the report, which was released yesterday, The Bahamas and Barbados were the only two islands in the category with very high human development. Eleven of the Caribbean countries listed fell in the category of high human development.

They include:

• Antigua and Barbuda dropped four places from 74 to 78.
• Belize also continued to fall, dropping a further seven spots from 103 to 110.
• Cuba improved two spaces from 72 to 70.
• Dominica dropped four places from 94 to 98.
• Jamaica continued to decline, falling five places from 96 to 101 after previously dropping four spots.
• Saint Kitts and Nevis fell one place from 73 to 74, tying with Grenada.
• St Lucia improved its score three places from 89 to 86.
• St Vincent at the Grenadines and Suriname tied at 97.
• Trinidad and Tobago jumped fell four spots from 63 to 67, tying with Seychelles.

Guyana was the only Caribbean country in the category of medium human development, listed at 122, a one space improvement from the previous list.

Haiti, which tied with Sudan for 170, was down one place from its previous ranking 169 ranking last year.

Haiti is the sole Caribbean country, which was ranked in the low human development category.