UNDP points to rapid improvement in living conditions in developing countries - According to the most recent United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report on human development, living conditions in the countries of the South have risen sharply and not only in the big countries. Between 1990 and 2010, the South's share of the global middle class population expanded from 26% to 58%. By 2030, more than 80% of the world's middle class is projected to be residing in the South and to account for 70% of total consumption expenditure. The Asia- Pacific Region will host about two-thirds of the world's middle class by 2030, Central and South America about 10% and Sub-Saharan Africa 2%. Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite indicator based on three major criteria (life expectancy at birth, education levels and living conditions), which help measure individual and collective well-being. The UNDP report for 2013 indicates that Norway, Australia and the US are at the head of the list of 187 countries and territories, while the Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger score lowest in terms of national accomplishments in health, education and income. The report indicates that all groups and regions experienced significant improvements in all areas of HDI, with the most rapid progress being made in low and medium HDI countries. In this context, the world is becoming a little less unequal. Fourteen countries have recorded impressive HDI improvements of more than 2% a year since 2000. These are, in order of the level of improvements obtained: Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Angola, East Timor, Myanmar, Tanzania, Liberia, Burundi, Mali, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger. The majority of higher HDI countries have also experienced regular indicator increases since 2000. National averages, however, conceal significant disparities in certain cases. In the US, for example, where the general indicator is 0.94, the average is only 0.75 for Latin American residents and 0.74 for African-Americans. (IL/transl.fl)