Human Development Index, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

• India dropped two ranks in the United Nations’ Human Development Index this year, standing at 131 out of 189 countries. However, if the Index were adjusted to assess the planetary pressures caused by each nation’s development, India would move up eight places in the ranking.
• India was ranked 129 out of 189 countries on the 2019 Human Development Index (HDI) improving from the 130th position in 2018.
• For the first time, the United Nations Development Programme introduced a new metric to reflect the impact caused by each country’s per-capita carbon emissions and its material footprint, which measures the number of fossil fuels, metals and other resources used to make the goods and services it consumes.
• HDI is a part of the Human Development Report that is published by the UNDP.

The key findings

• India still remains home to 28 per cent of the world’s poor despite lifting 271 million people out of poverty between 2005-15.
• India remains the home of 364 million poor people (28 per cent), out of a global population of 1.3 billion.
• Around 661 million of these poor people live in Asia and the Pacific, of which India is a part. South Asia, of which India is the largest country, constitutes 41 per cent of the world’s poor
• According to the report published by the United Nations Development Programme on December 15, India’s gross national income per capita fell to $6,681 in 2019 from $6,829 in 2018 on purchasing power parity (PPP) basis.
• In the last three decades, life expectancy at birth in India increased by 11.6 years, whereas the average number of schooling years increased by 3.5 years. Per capita incomes increased 250 times.
• The report finds that despite progress, group-based inequalities persist on the Indian Subcontinent, especially affecting women and girls.

Top Performers in 2019

• Norway topped the list with Ireland and Switzerlandoccupied the second position.
• Norway, which tops the HDI, falls 15 places if this metric is used, leaving Ireland at the top of the table. In fact, 50 countries would drop entirely out of the “very high human development group” category, using this new metric, called the Planetary Pressures-adjusted HDI, or PHDI.
• Hong Kong is placed fourth along with Iceland, and Germany secured the fifth rank on the global ranking.

Changing nature of inequality

• The report states that as the number of people coming out of poverty is increasing, the world is veering towards another type of poverty.
• The old inequalities were based on access to health services and education whereas the next generation of poverty is based on technology, education, and climate.
• India has both types of poverty. Even as Indians continue to face a lack of access to healthcare and education, many others are becoming poor based on the new criteria.

HDI measures the average achievement of a country in three basic dimensions of human development:

• A long and healthy life,
• Access to knowledge, and
• A decent standard of living

Note:

South Asia was the fastest-growing region in human development progress witnessing a 46% growth over 1990-2018, followed by East Asia and the Pacific at 43%.