Key facts

Where UK bilateral aid goes - pie chart showing bilateral aid spending in Nepal (2008/09)

Facts about Nepal

Population: 27 million (World Bank (WB), 2006).
Average life expectancy: 63 years (WB, 2006). UK: 78 years (UN Statistics Division (UNSD), 2007).
Average per capita income: US$340 (WB, 2006). UK: US$33,800 (purchasing power parity (PPP)) (World Development Indicators (WDI), 2007).
Gross national income (GNI): US$8.8 billion (WB, 2006).
Average annual growth rate: 2.8% (WB, 2006).
Percentage of people not meeting daily food needs: 60% of landholding houses are food deficit for some time during year, 78% of these for at least four to six months (UNICEF, 2006).
Women dying in childbirth: 281 per 100,000 live births (Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), 2006). UK: 13 per 100,000 (UNSD, 2007).
Children dying before age 5: 61 deaths per 1,000 live births (NDHS, 2006). UK: 6 per 1,000 (UNSD, 2005).
Percentage of children receiving primary school education: 91.1% of all school-age children (Ministry of Education, 2008).
Percentage of people aged 15-49 living with HIV/AIDS: 0.5% (WB, 2006). UK: 0.2% (UNSD, 2005).
Percentage of people with access to safe, clean water: 82% (NDHS, 2006).
Total UK aid received (2008/09): £58.5m (Source: Statistics for International Development 2009)

Progress towards Millennium Development Goals

Nepal is on track to achieve MDGs 1, 3, 4 and 5, and has the potential also to achieve MDGs 6 and 7.

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Poverty levels declined from 42% in 1996 to 31% in 2004 but progress for different groups is uneven. For Tamangs, one of the most excluded ethnic groups, the poverty rate is almost double the national average. The poorest and hardest hit conflict regions such as the Midwestern have a poverty incidence almost 20% higher than that of the Central region.

MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education
Although enrolment rates increased by 5% between 2002 and 2006 and now total 91.1%, Nepal is still not on track to meet the 100% attendance target. Patterns of disparity between caste and ethnic groups remain.

MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Enrolment of girls in primary education is increasing and is supported by focused efforts from the government and donors. However, gender disparity in education remains pronounced for Madeshi middle castes and Madeshi janajatis.

MDG 4: Reduce child mortality
The under-5 mortality and infant mortality rates are declining by about 6% and 3.2% per annum respectively. If this progress continues, it seems likely that Nepal will achieve the MDG target for 2015. However, under-nutrition remains a serious challenge with around half of Nepal’s children having stunted growth.

MDG 5: Improve maternal health
Although Nepal’s maternal mortality rate is high at 281 per 100,000 live births, the annual number of maternal deaths halved between 1996 and 2006. Therefore Nepal is on track to meet this MDG.

MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Nepal is unlikely to achieve the HIV/AIDS element of the MDG; however, data collection and estimations of HIV/AIDS are in their infancy there. The national TB programme has been performing very well and Nepal is on track to meet this target. There is insufficient data to draw conclusions on progress against the malaria target.

MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Nepal's forest coverage has remained stable since 1990. Nepal is on track to meet the water target (82% have access to safe drinking water) but not the sanitation one (only 39% have access to safe toilets).

MDG 8: Develop a global partnership for development
One element of this MDG is access to communications technology. The number of mobile phone subscribers per 100 people in Nepal leapt from 0.84 in 2005 to 4.18 in 2006.

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