Context

India slipped one place further in the 2020 human development index released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), ending up at 131^st position out of 189 nations. India was ranked 130 in the index back in 2018.

About

What is Human Development Index (HDI)?

• The Human Development Index is a combination of people’s life expectancy at birth, expected years of schooling, mean years of schooling and a country’s gross national income per capita.
• The index is compiled by the United Nations to measure and various countries' levels of social and economic development.
• It is composed of four principal areas of interest:
  • mean years of schooling expected years of schooling
  • life expectancyat birth
  • gross national income per capita. 

Key-findings of the Index

• India has been positioned at 131 out of 189 countries and territories. 
• Nepal and Bangladesh ranked below India, at 142 and 133 spots, respectively, while Pakistan was placed at 154.
• Norway topped the index, followed by Ireland, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Iceland.
• India’s neighbours Sri Lanka and China ranked higher, at 72 and 85, respectively.
• Whereas, Bangladesh (133), Myanmar (147), Nepal (142), Pakistan (154) and Afghanistan (169) were ranked lower on the list.
• Life expectancy: Life expectancy of Indians at birth in 2019 was 69.7 years while Bangladesh has a life expectancy of 72.6 years and Pakistan 67.3 years.
• Gross National Income: India’s gross national income per capita fell to USD 6,681 in 2019 from USD 6,829 in 2018 on purchasing power parity (PPP) basis.
  • Purchasing power parity or PPP is a measurement of prices in different countries using the prices of specific goods to compare the absolute purchasing power of the countries’ currencies.
• Gender inequality index: India was placed at 123 position in the gender inequality index.
  • Labour force participation rate of women in the country was 20.5 per cent, while it was 76.1 per cent for men.
  • And only 13.5 per cent women held seats in Parliament.

Human development category

• Medium human development: With a total HDI value of 0.645, India was placed in the ‘medium human development’ group alongside nations like Iraq, Bhutan, Ghana, Nepal and Cambodia.
• High human development: Countries such as Sri Lanka, Maldives, Vietnam and China were part of the ‘high human development’ group.
• Very high human development: Malaysia and Japan made it to the ‘very high human development’ list.