2016 Global Youth Development Index: Results and Analysis Table 2.2  Global youth population by YDI level, 2010 and 2015 YDI level Youth population, 2010 (millions) Youth Percentage population, change 2015 (millions) Low 353 263 Medium 949 1,018 7% High 223 228 2% Very high 252 292 16% −25% 2.2  Youth development in the Commonwealth The Commonwealth is home to one-third of the global youth population. Over the past five years, youth development in the Commonwealth has registered larger gains than the global average. Collectively, there was a 5 per cent increase in the average YDI score of Commonwealth countries between 2010 and 2015. Of the 49 Commonwealth countries included in the Index, 45 improved their YDI scores. With four countries transitioning from the high to the very high YDI category, there was a 58 per cent increase in the proportion of young people living in very high YDI Commonwealth countries. Pakistan was the only Commonwealth country that moved into a lower YDI category in 2015 than it had in 2010. Deteriorations in YDI scores were also recorded for St Vincent and The Grenadines, and the Maldives, but the decline in their scores was not significant enough to transfer them from one YDI category to another. There were significant fluctuations in Bangladesh’s scores over the course of the last five years but in 2015 it had the same score as in 2010, thus showing no net change in its YDI score. A summary of Commonwealth countries and regions can be found in Chapter 6 (see Table 6.2). The Commonwealth has made progress in all the five domains of the YDI, with improvements in the Civic Participation and Political Participation domains being the largest. Despite the gains discussed above, young people in the Commonwealth continue to face significant challenges. Commonwealth countries continue to figure more prominently in the low YDI category than countries in the rest of the world (Figure 2.7). Of the 1.8 billion young people in the world, nearly 15 per cent live in low YDI countries, a majority of which are in the Commonwealth. In contrast, young people in the Commonwealth account for only 14 per cent of the global youth population living in very high YDI countries. The ten highest-ranked Commonwealth countries in the YDI are mostly from Europe and Asia-Pacific. Except Pakistan, all the ten lowest-ranked countries in the Commonwealth are from Africa (Table 2.3). Low YDI countries in the Commonwealth are performing better than their peers in the cohort in all domains except Health and Well-being. Commonwealth countries in medium, high and very Table 2.3  Commonwealth countries with the highest and lowest 2016 YDI ranks Global YDI rank The ten highest-ranked Commonwealth countries Proportion of 15–29 year olds Global YDI rank The ten lowest-ranked Commonwealth countries Proportion of 15–29 year olds 3 Australia 21% 148 Rwanda 29% 4 UK 19% 149 Sierra Leone 28% 11 New Zealand 20% 154 Pakistan 29% 14 Canada 20% 155 Namibia 30% 20 Malta 19% 162 Malawi 29% 28 Barbados 19% 163 Cameroon 29% 31 Brunei 26% 168 Tanzania 27% 31 Sri Lanka 22% 171 Lesotho 33% 34 Malaysia 28% 176 Zambia 28% 38 Cyprus 23% 177 Mozambique 27% \ 33