For the first time ever, the global Human Development Index (HDI) declined for two consecutive years, falling back to its 2016 levels, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said in a report released on Thursday.

The UNDP has been calculating the HDI, which measures a country’s standard of living, life expectancies, and education, for the past 32 years

The reversal is nearly universal as over 90 percent of countries registered a decline in their HDI score in either 2020 or 2021 and more than 40 percent declined in both years, signaling that the crisis is still deepening for many.

Almost all countries saw reversals in human development in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While some countries are beginning to get back on their feet, recovery is uneven and partial, further widening inequalities in human development. Latin America, the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have been hit particularly hard.

“The world is scrambling to respond to back-to-back crises. We have seen with the cost of living and energy crises that, while it is tempting to focus on quick fixes like subsidizing fossil fuels, immediate relief tactics are delaying the long-term systemic changes we must make,” says Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator. “We are collectively paralyzed in making these changes. In a world defined by uncertainty, we need a renewed sense of global solidarity to tackle our interconnected, common challenges.”

To chart a new course, the report recommends implementing policies that focus on investment — from renewable energy to preparedness for pandemics, and insurance—including social protection— to prepare our societies for the ups and downs of an uncertain world.

“To navigate uncertainty, we need to double down on human development and look beyond improving people’s wealth or health,” says UNDP’s Pedro Conceição, the report’s lead author. ‘We are living in uncertain times. We live in a world of worry.”

He says that the report firmly positions human development not just as a goal but as a means to a path forward in uncertain times, reminding us that people in all our complexity, our diversity, and our creativity are the real wealth of nations.