Development

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As we can see, the HDI of Norway is really high. In fact it is the best in the world where as Pakistan’s rank is 146th despite having the 46th largest GDP in the world. In order to see where the difference lies, we must look at how HDI is calculated. HDI takes 3 things into account: life expectancy, education and income. We have already discussed some of the reasons why the income varies between the two countries. Now let us look at the health and education expenditures of the two.

Healthcare and life expectancy

Norway: All the hospitals are funded by the public. The taxation in Norway is also high due to this but this would be discussed later in taxation. Treatment is free for everyone who is under sixteen. After that, the exemption card is made when all the tax receipts are done with. There are very few exceptions like that of dental care that people have to pay for themselves. Moreover the expenditure per capita on healthcare is the highest in the world at around $9200 per capita. An estimated 9.5% of the GDP is spent on healthcare every year. This may seem low considering the world average but considering the population Norway has, this is a lot.

As a result, the efficiency for Norway’s labor force is really high and this reflects in their GDP and due to the free healthcare services the total life expectancy has shown a great increase. Currently Norway has a total average life expectancy of 82.

Pakistan on the other hand hasn’t paid much attention to healthcare. According to World Bank’s data, Pakistan spends around 2.5% of its GDP on healthcare however that is only on paper. On paper there are a lot of public hospitals but the healthcare provided there is of really low standards. Those who can afford it go to private hospitals which are costly. The healthcare system under the government provides really cheap treatment but the facilities cannot cater to the large poverty stricken population. This is the condition of the urban centers, in rural areas there is no such medical facility available.

Despite the low expenditure on health, the basic health indicators of Pakistan have shown improvement. The fertility rate has shifted to almost 4% while the total average life expectancy has increased to around 65.

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3 Health expenditure % of GDP

Education

Norway spends a lot on education too. All of the state owned schools provide quality education that is completely free of cost till secondary graduation. Even after that, the cost of education is really low. There are also international schools and colleges available but they seem overpriced. Moreover, it is compulsory on every child to attend school till his/her secondary graduation. As a result, the literacy rate in Norway is 100% for both men and women. Equal enrollment for men and women is also the key here. Around 7% of the GDP is spent on education. Again the percentage seems really low but considering the high GDP and really low population, 7% is a lot of money spent on education.

Pakistan seems to pay very less attention in the field of education as well. On paper, only around 2% of the GDP is spent on education. Even if this 2% figure is true, the expenditure is really low considering the growing population of Pakistan which is estimated to reach 200 million in a few years. Moreover, these figures exist on paper. In reality, a lot of money is siphoned off due to corruption in different ways. There are many ghost schools in Pakistan meaning that they only exist on paper. The institutions that do exist are of very poor quality in nature. The teachers are underpaid and the infrastructure is under developed. Mainly these state owned schools are there in the urban centers. The condition is worse in rural areas. Moreover, there is no such law forcing children to attend school. Due to poverty and the need for a cheap labor force, children are forced into child labor with little or no incentive on education. We also see a lot of gender equality in terms of education since only 40% of the women are literate compared to the total average literacy rate of around 50%. This literacy rate is also calculated on a very easy basis in a way that if the person can read and write his name, he is considered literate. This is not a fair comparison since we can’t label such a person as literate in today’s fast track world.

There hasn’t been any major government effort to increase enrollment rates especially in the rural areas however the NGOs are now making an effort. Still Pakistan has a lot of ground to cover.

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4 Education expenditure % of GDP

Population and its effect

One of the major factors that make these two countries really different is the size of the population. The more people there are to feed the more development is needed. The things to consider here is not just the population size but also the population mix and social fractionalization in the country. Let us see what factors contribute to the relative population stats for both countries.

Population size

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5 birth rate per 1000 people

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6 Death rate per 1000 people

Norway like all other developed countries has experienced a declining birth rate. There are many general reasons for this trend.

- There has been a change in lifestyle choices due to economic affluence of the population.

- Previously, children were needed as work force especially in rural areas. This is still the case in some of the rural areas in Pakistan where the main workforce of the subsistence farms is the family itself. Moreover, children are seen as investments that would pay off in the old age of parents. Now the perception has changed and children are seen as economic drains primarily in the developed countries because of their increased cost of upbringing. You might think that education and healthcare is free in Norway thus the price of rearing the kids would be low but it is not the case. The accommodation expenses and the tax expenses are really high in Norway.

- The increase in female literacy rates has also resulted in a decrease in birth rates. This is because of increase in awareness and the fact that females have joined the workforce in large numbers in the developed countries. Traditionally

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