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

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 Nation Development Program 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 expectancy at birth
  • Gross national income per capita.

Key-fi findings of the Index

• India has been positioned at 131 out of 189 countries and territories.
• Life expectancy: The 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 positions in the gender inequality index.
  • The Labour force participation rate of women in the country was 20.5 per cent, while it was 76.1 percent for men.
  • And only 13.5 percent of 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.