Wednesday, May 31, 2023

31: Manisha Koirala



The World’s Biggest Problems

Monday, May 29, 2023

Nepal Progress Report





Data speaks for itself: Nepal is progressing a lot more now than in the past Several development indicators show Nepal is doing much better in education, GDP, infrastructure, tourism, life expectancy and many more. Here is a case-by-case description. .......... In 1981, the literacy rate was 21 percent; in 1991, it was 33 percent; in 2021, it was 71.15 percent. From 1991 to 2021, the increase is more than double. No wonder we witness a lot of brain drain to high-income countries. .......... In 1990, school enrollment at the primary level was less than 70 percent, but today, we have around 96 percent (2019). ......... In 1950, Nepali people lived 34 years on average; in 1990, they lived 53 years, and these days they live 72 years. ......... In 1950, 28 people in every 1,000 people used to die, which improved in 1990 when 13 out of 1,000 people and in 2023, 6 out of 1000 people died. Two-thirds of the population used to smoke in 2000 (64.50 percent); these days, around 30.40 percent (2020) of the population smoke. If you look at the hunger statistics, it is equally revealing. In 2001 around 23.50 percent of people were hungry; now, only 5.50 percent of the population is hungry. Among South Asian countries, Nepal is doing better compared to India (16.30 percent), Bangladesh (11,40 percent) and Pakistan (16.90 percent). ............ In 1960, the GDP of Nepal was 0.51 billion USD; in 1990, it was 3.63 billion USD, and now it is around 36.29 billion USD, which is almost ten times the increase since 1990. .......... 1/4th of the GDP comes from remittance (around 9 billion USD) at present ........... Nepal sends around 3 billion USD to India as remittance, and we receive around 1 billion USD from India. ............ In 1991, the debt compared to GDP was 65 percent, the debt had reduced by almost half to 34 percent in 2010, and at present, the country’s debt is around 39 percent. ............. In 1990 it was 1554.6 USD, and in 2022 it is 3922.08 USD. ............ In 1996, 18 percent of the population had access to electricity; in 2020, it was around 90 percent. .......... About 20 years ago, Nepal’s road network was one of the smallest in the world, with a road density for both strategic and local road networks estimated at 13.7 km per 100 km2 in 1998 (DOR, 2002, 2017). However, by 2016, it had increased to 49.6 km per 100 km2 and continues to increase at a very rapid pace ............. The tourism industry contributed about 6.7 percent to Nepal’s GDP, while its total impact was US$ 2.2 billion. In addition, in 2019, tourism supported over one million direct and indirect jobs or 6.7 percent of total employment. ............ number of tourist destinations, star hotels, services and domestic tourists has increased exponentially, which is a sign of the Nepali population’s improvement in purchasing power. Two new international airports in the most popular tourist destinations will connect more destinations in the coming days and tourism could become a major contributor to the country’s GDP............... the number of seats held by women in the national parliament is one of the highest in South Asia. ............ More voices from underprivileged people are common, which irritates many of these ‘SukilaMukila’ primarily from the Khas-Arya group.