Above: Barbados (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Barbados continues to have the highest Human Development Index of any Caribbean country, according to the United Nations Development Programme’s 2013 report.

Barbados is ranked 38th in the world in HDI, which examines factors including education, life expectancy and income, among others. It is also the only Caribbean country among those with “very high human development.”

Barbados’ ranking is ahead of countries such as Poland, Chile, Lithuania, the United Arab Emirates and Portugal.

The next-highest Caribbean country on the list was the Bahamas, which was ranked 49th overall, followed by Cuba, which was ranked 59th in the world.

Grenada was ranked 63rd in the world, Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago were tied for 67th, and Dominica was tied with Georgia and St Kitts and Nevis for 72nd in the world.

St Vincent and the Grenadines was next with a ranking of 83rd in the world, while Jamaica was ranked 85th, tied with Brazil.

Saint Lucia was ranked 88th in the world.

For the full list of Caribbean countries and their global rankings in HDI, see below: