The World Bank has released a report entitled The Changing Wealth of Nations 2021. According to the report, South Asia suffers most from the loss of human capital due to air pollution.
Highlights
The latest version of the report measures wealth distribution and creation in 146 countries. It covers 20 years from the year 1995 to 2018. The World Bank has measured prosperity using total domestic production, human capital, human capital, and natural capital such as renewable and non-renewable natural resources. According to the bank, human capital is defined as a person’s lifetime income. Natural capital represents the economic value of renewable resources such as forests as well as agricultural land and non-renewable resources such as minerals as well as fossil fuels.
Findings
The report released states that the largest source of wealth in the world is still human capital. In the year 2018, it accounted for 64% of the world’s total wealth. The middle-income countries are continuously increasing their human capital investment, due to which there is significant increase in their share of the global assets related to human capital. In South Asia, human capital accounts for 50 percent of the region’s total wealth. This number has not changed during the survey period. Therefore, the report emphasizes the importance of a healthy workforce.
Concerns
This report states that air pollution has affected the producers adversely. Due to air pollution, South Asian region was most affected by estimated human capital losses. In other regions, such loss of human capital due to air pollution has not been quantified. The prosperity of South Asia has increased since the year 1995. However, per capita wealth is one of the lowest in the world due to its growing population compared to sub-Saharan Africa. There is also gender disparity is this region as 80 percent of the wealth was allocated to the men.
Conclusion
The World Bank Reporting Database is intended for use by policy makers seeking to improve their measurement of economic development. This means more accurate pricing of natural goods or the fair value of human capital. The report also found that many countries are on the path of unsustainable development. Because their natural, human or produced capital is depleted in support of short-term increases in consumption or income. Published by the World Bank, this report assesses a wide range of assets in the form of natural capital available to developed countries, including minerals, fossil fuels, forests, mangroves and marine fisheries.
