A report by the U.N. Development Program

The Czech Republic is the 34th most developed country in the world, according to the U.N. index of human development, which takes into account factors such as life expectancy, educational levels, quality of health care and actual incomes, a report by the U.N. Development Program UNDP) shows. The report shows that after Slovenia, which is in 29th place on the development scale, the Czech Republic is the second most advanced of the post-communist countries in central and eastern Europe. The Czech Republic is followed by Slovakia in 40th place, Hungary in 43rd and Poland in 44th. This year's UNDP report shows that the Czech Republic is continuing to move up on the ladder of development. While in both 1997 and 1998 the country ranked in 39th place, it rose to 36th place last year. Slovakia, which ranked 42nd on the scale from 1997-1999, has this year moved up two positions.