Skopje, 19 February 2024 (MIA) - The Human Development Index's five least developed regions across Europe are in the Balkans, with North Macedonia's Southeast being the least developed on the continent.

The Human Development is a composite index by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Human Development Report Office. It is used to measure a country’s development. The score is based on life expectancy, education and per capita income indicators. The Human Development Index is normally calculated on the national level. The Global Data Lab of the Nijmegen Radboud University has calculated the HDI at the subnational level, Landgeist reports.

Based on the index, Europe is the most developed continent in the world, with all regions having either high or very high index.

Bulgaria's Northwest region is the second least developed region, followed by Moldova's Central region, North Macedonia's Northeast and Kosovo's Gnjilane. Despite the position they hold, these regions have a high index compared to the rest of the world.

The most developed regions in Europe are in Switzerland (Zurich), Norway (Oslo), Great Britain (London), Germany (Hamburg) and Sweden (Stockholm).

Photo: Screenshot/Landgeist