Human Development Index 2020: India ranked at 131st position by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Human Development Index 2020 is a report published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). India ranked at 131st position out of 189 countries in the index.

Arfa Javaid Updated: Dec 31, 2020 17:55 IST

Human Development Index 2020

Human Development Index 2020 is a report published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In 2020, UNDP has released planetary pressures-adjusted Human Development Index. This means that the standard Human Development Index (HDI) is adjusted by a nation's per capita carbon dioxide emissions and material footprint.

What is the Human Development Index (HDI)?

It is a composite index which measures average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development-- a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living.

1- Long and healthy life: For Indian’s, life expectancy at birth is 69.7 years in the report. This is slightly lower than the South Asian average of 69.9 years. Also, between 1990 and 2019, India’s life expectancy at birth increased by 11.8 years.

2- Knowledge: The expected years of schooling in India was 12.2 years in the report. Also, between 1990 and 2019, India's mean years of schooling increased by 3.5 years, and expected years of schooling increased by 4.5 years.

3- Standard of living: India's Gross National Income (GNI) per capita is USD 6,681 which increased by about 273.9% between 1990 and 2019.

Structure of the 2020 Human Development Report

1- Renewing human development for the Anthropocene.
2- Mechanisms of change to catalyse action.
3- Exploring new metrics.

Human Development Index 2020: India's Ranking

India ranked at 131st position out of 189 countries in the index, felling in the medium human development category with an HDI value of 0.645. In the year 2019, India ranked at 129th position.

It is to be noted that between 1990 and 2019, India’s HDI value increased from 0.429 to 0.645, an increase of 50.3%.

Human Development Index (HDI) 2020: Other indexes and India's performance

Indexes	Value (India's performance)
Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)	0.475
Gender Development Index (GDI)	0.820
Gender Inequality Index (GII)	0.488
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)	0.123

Definitions:

1- Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI): It is the HDI value adjusted for inequalities in the three basic dimensions of human development.

2- Gender Development Index (GDI): It is the ratio of female to male HDI values.

3- Gender Inequality Index (GII): It is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievement between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market.

4- Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): It is the percentage of the population that is multidimensionally poor adjusted by the intensity of the deprivations.

2020 Human Development Report by UNDP

HDI Rank	Country/Territory	Value
1	Norway	0.957
2	Ireland	0.955
2	Switzerland	0.955
4	Hong Kong, China (SAR)	0.949
4	Iceland	0.949
6	Germany	0.947
7	Sweden	0.945
8	Australia	0.944
8	Netherlands	0.944
10	Denmark	0.940
11	Finland	0.938
11	Singapore	0.938
13	United Kingdom	0.932
14	Belgium	0.931
14	New Zealand	0.931
16	Canada	0.929
17	United States	0.926
18	Austria	0.922
19	Israel	0.919
19	Japan	0.919
19	Liechtenstein	0.919
22	Slovenia	0.917
23	Korea (Republic of)	0.916
23	Luxembourg	0.916
25	Spain	0.904
26	France	0.901
27	Czechia	0.900
28	Malta	0.895
29	Estonia	0.892
29	Italy	0.892
31	United Arab Emirates	0.890
32	Greece	0.888
33	Cyprus	0.887
34	Lithuania	0.882
35	Poland	0.880
36	Andorra	0.868
37	Latvia	0.866
38	Portugal	0.864
39	Slovakia	0.860
40	Hungary	0.854
40	Saudi Arabia	0.854
42	Bahrain	0.852
43	Chile	0.851
43	Croatia	0.851
45	Qatar	0.848
46	Argentina	0.845
47	Brunei Darussalam	0.838
48	Montenegro	0.829
49	Romania	0.828
50	Palau	0.826
51	Kazakhstan	0.825
52	Russian Federation	0.824
53	Belarus	0.823
54	Turkey	0.820
55	Uruguay	0.817
56	Bulgaria	0.816
57	Panama	0.815
58	Bahamas	0.814
58	Barbados	0.814
60	Oman	0.813
61	Georgia	0.812
62	Costa Rica	0.810
62	Malaysia	0.810
64	Kuwait	0.806
64	Serbia	0.806
66	Mauritius	0.804
67	Seychelles	0.796
67	Trinand and Tobago	0.796
69	Albania	0.795
70	Cuba	0.783
70	Iran (the Islamic Republic of)	0.796
72	Sri Lanka	0.782
73	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.780
74	Grenada	0.779
74	Mexico	0.779
74	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0.779
74	Ukraine	0.779
78	Antigua and Barbuda	0.778
79	Peru	0.777
79	Thailand	0.777
81	Armenia	0.776
82	North Macedonia	0.774
83	Colombia	0.767
84	Brazil	0.765
85	China	0.761
86	Ecuador	0.759
86	Saint Lucia	0.759
88	Azerbaijan	0.756
88	Dominican Republic	0.756
90	Moldova (Republic of)	0.750
91	Algeria	0.748
92	Lebanon	0.744
93	Fiji	0.743
94	Dominica	0.742
95	Maldives	0.740
96	Tunisia	0.740
97	Saint Vincet and the Grenadines	0.738
97	Suriname	0.738
99	Mongolia	0.737
100	Botswana	0.735
101	Jamaica	0.734
102	Jordon	0.729
103	Paraguay	0.728
104	Tonga	0.725
105	Libya	0.724
106	Uzbekistan	0.720
107	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	0.718
107	Indonesia	0.718
107	Philippines	0.718
110	Belize	0.716
111	Samoa	0.715
111	Turkemistan	0.715
113	Venezuela (the Bolivarian Republic of)	0.711
114	South Africa	0.709
115	Palestine, State of	0.708
116	Egypt	0.707
117	Marshall Islands	0.704
117	Viet Nam	0.704
119	Gabon	0.703
120	Kyrgyzstan	0.697
121	Morocco	0.686
122	Guyana	0.682
123	Iraq	0.674
124	El Salvador	0.673
125	Tajikistan	0.668
126	Cabo Verde	0.665
127	Guatemala	0.663
128	Nicaragua	0.660
129	Bhutan	0.654
130	Namibia	0.646
131	India	0.645
132	Honduras	0.634
133	Bangladesh	0.634
134	Kiribati	0.630
135	Sao Tome and Principe	0.625
136	Micronesia (the Federated States of)	0.620
137	Lao People's Democratic Republic	0.613
138	Eswatini (Kingdom of)	0.611
138	Ghana	0.611
140	Vanuatu	0.609
141	Timor-Leste	0.606
142	Nepal	0.602
143	Kenya	0.601
144	Cambodia	0.594
145	Equitorial Guinea	0.592
146	Zambia	0.584
147	Myanmar	0.583
148	Angola	0.581
149	Congo	0.574
150	Zimbabwe	0.571
151	Solomon Islands	0.567
151	The Syrian Arab Republic	0.567
153	Cameroon	0.563
154	Pakistan	0.557
155	Papua New Guinea	0.555
156	Comoros	0.554
157	Mauritania	0.546
158	Benin	0.545
159	Uganda	0.544
160	Rwanda	0.543
161	Nigeria	0.539
162	Côte d’Ivoire	0.538
163	Tanzania (the United Republic of)	0.529
164	Madagascar	0.528
165	Lesotho	0.527
166	Djibouti	0.524
167	Togo	0.515
168	Senegal	0.512
169	Afghanistan	0.511
170	Haiti	0.510
170	Sudan	0.510
172	The Gambia	0.496
173	Ethiopia	0.485
174	Malawi	0.483
175	Congo (the Democratic Republic of)	0.480
175	Guinea-Bissau	0.480
175	Liberia	0.480
178	Guinea	0.477
179	Yemen	0.470
180	Eritrea	0.459
181	Mozambique	0.456
182	Burkina Faso	0.452
183	Sierra Leone	0.452
184	Mali	0.434
185	Burundi	0.433
186	South Sudan	0.433
187	Chad	0.398
188	Central African Republic	0.397
189	Niger	0.394

Other Reports

1- Freedom on the Net 2020

As per a report by Freedom House on Freedom on the Net 2020, India has ranked at 51st position. The report also labelled India’s internet as 'partly free'.

Categories:

A. Obstacles to Access (12 points out of 25)
B. Limits on Content (21 points out of 35)
C. Violations of User Rights (18 points out of 40)

2- Global Economic Freedom Index 2020

As per a report by Fraser Institute, Canada on Global Economic Freedom Index 2020, India has ranked at 105th position. The report was released in September 2020.

3- World Press Freedom Index 2020

As per a report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), India ranked at 142nd position out of 180 countries/territories. The report was released in April 2020.

Ease of Doing Business 2020: India ascended 17 notches, ranked at 63rd position by The World Bank

Human Freedom Index 2020: India plummets 17 notches, ranked at 111th position