India ranked 132 out of 191 countries in the 2021 human development index, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). But what is the human development index? Come, let’s find out.
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a measure of countries’ life expectancies, education levels, and standards of living. In other words, HDI is a statistical tool used by the UN to quantify a country’s overall achievement in health, education, and economic status. The index, introduced by the UN in 1990, is used to track changes over time and compare the levels of development of different countries. It is said that human development across the world has stalled for the first time in 32 years.
Reasons for the decline
The COVID-19 pandemic, along with other crises such as the Ukraine-Russia war, climate change, higher cost of living, and spiralling energy prices, has pushed the global development measurement back to its 2016 level, according to the UN report titled “Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World”. A large contributor to the HDI’s recent decline is a global drop in life expectancy, down from 72.8 years in 2019 to 71.4 years in 2021. Human development is said to have declined for two years in a row – 2020 and 2021.
How is development measured?
The HDI measures the social and economic development of a country based on three key aspects- a long and healthy life, access to education, and a decent standard of living. It is calculated using four indicators – life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling (average number of completed years of education of a country’s population), expected years of schooling, and the Gross National Income per capita (annual national income per person in a country). The higher the HDI, the better a country’s overall development is. So a high HDI means the country in question provides a high standard of living, with decent healthcare, education, and opportunities for livelihood.
India’s HDI value
India’s HDI value of 0.633 places the country in the medium human development category. This is lower than the country’s value of 0.645 in the 2020 report. In 2020, India ranked 131 among 189 countries in human development.
In the latest HDI ranking, Switzerland finished first with a HDI value of 0.962. Norway came second with 0.961, and Iceland third with 0.959.
The report recommends implementing policies that focus on 3 Is – investment (from renewable energy to preparedness for pandemics), insurance (to prepare our societies for the ups and downs of an uncertain world), and innovation (technological, economic, cultural to build capacities to respond to any challenges that may arise) – to push development.
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