Jakarta. Indonesia has joined the group of countries with high human development index despite no gain in ranking, according to a report by the United Nations Development Programme, or UNDP, released on Monday.

In the 2019 Human Development Report, Indonesia was ranked 111, unchanged from the previous year. 

Average life expectancy in the country is now 71.5 years and most Indonesians are expected to stay in school for 12.9 years.

Internet users in Indonesia make up 39.8 percent of the total population, similar to the percentage of skilled labors compared to the available labor force.

Indonesia scores 0.707 in the human development index (HDI), joining countries like Thailand and the Philippines in the "high" category. 

The index has 62 countries in the "very high" human development category. The next batch of countries until the 116th in the ranking is in the high category. 

The rest out of the total 189 countries are in the "medium" or "low level" categories. 

Singapore is Southeast Asia’s top country at ninth in the ranking, joined by Brunei (43rd) and Malaysia (62nd) in the very high category.

Thailand (77th) was the second most improved country after Ireland in the index, moving up 12 places between 2013 and 2018, according to the report.

The Philippines outclassed Indonesia to be 106th in the ranking.

Vietnam (118th), Laos (140th), Myanmar (145th) and Cambodia (146th) belong to the group of countries with medium human development.

The report notes that in countries with very high human development, subscriptions to fixed broadband are growing 15 times faster and the proportion of adults with tertiary education is growing more than six times faster than in countries with low human development.

Overall, the Asia-Pacific region has witnessed the steepest rise globally in human development. 

"It leads the world in access to broadband internet and is gaining on more developed regions in life expectancy, education and access to health care," the UNDP says in a statement.

South Asia was the fastest-growing region with a 46 percent growth between 1990 and 2018, followed by East Asia and the Pacific with 43 percent.

South Asia also saw the greatest leap in life expectancy and years of schooling.

While the gap in basic standards is narrowing, with an unprecedented number of people escaping poverty, hunger and disease, necessities to thrive have evolved, the UNDP report says.

The next generation of inequalities is opening up, particularly around technology, education and the climate crisis.

"This is the new face of inequality," UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said in the statement.