UNDP’s Human Development Index

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

India ranks 132 out of 191 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) 2021, after registering a decline in its score over two consecutive years for the first time in three decades.

The drop is in line with the global trend since the outbreak of COVID-19 during which 90% of the countries have fallen backward in human development.

HDI Index

• The Index is part of the Human Development Report 2021-2022 released by the United Nations Development Programme on Thursday. 

• The HDI measures average achievement of a country in three basic dimensions of human development  a long and healthy life, education and a decent standard of living.

• It is calculated using four indicators — life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, expected years of schooling, and the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. 
• The world over, nine out of 10 countries have slipped in their human development performance due to multiple crises such as COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and environmental challenges, indicating that human development globally has stalled for the first time in 32 years.

India’s HDI score of 0.633 places it in the medium human development category, lower than its value of 0.645 in 2018,<SU>indicating a reversal in progress.

• India’s expected years of schooling stand at 9 years, down from 12.2 years in the 2020 report, although the mean years of schooling is up at 6.7 years from 6.5 years in the 2020 report.
• Although India retained its 132nd position in the Gender Development Index, the female life expectancy dropped from 71 years in the 2020 report to 68.8 years in the 2021 report.
• The mean years of schooling for females declined from 12.6 to 11.9 years in the corresponding period.
• India scored 0.123 in the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) with a headcount ratio of 27.9 per cent, with 8.8 per cent population reeling under severe multidimensional poverty.
• Over the last decade, India has lifted a staggering 271 million out of multidimensional poverty, the report noted.

India Among South Asian Countries

• Among India’s neighbours, Sri Lanka (73rd), China (79th), Bangladesh (129th), and Bhutan (127th) are ranked above India, while Pakistan (161st ), Nepal (143rd ), and Myanmar (149th) are worse off.
• The report said around 90 per cent of countries registered a decline in their HDI value in 2020 or in 2021.