The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that is calculated and released every year by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Human Development Index (HDI) determines the average achievement of a country in key human development dimensions: a long and healthy life, decent standard of living, and mean years of schooling and expected years of schooling (education).
Key Points for UPSC Prelims
It is a composite index consisting of life expectancy, education, and per capita income as parameters.
When a country has a higher life span, good educational quality, and high levels of income, then its Human Development Index will rise.
HDI was developed in the year 1990 by a Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and is used to measure a country’s development.
In 2010, the UNDP introduced Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI). The IHDI measures a country’s average achievements in health, education, and income and how those achievements are distributed among the country’s population.
Human Development Index 2020
The Human Development Index 2020 has been topped by Norway, followed by Ireland.
India has been ranked 131st on the index of 189 countries and has dropped by two places from the previous year rankings where it was ranked 129th.
However, India would move up eight places in the ranking if the Index was adjusted to assess the planetary pressures caused by each nation’s development.
This year, UNDP has introduced a new metric to check the impact caused by each country’s per-capita carbon emissions and its material footprint.
China has been ranked 85th on the index while Pakistan is at rank 154.
As per the index, the gross national income per capita of India decreased to $6,681 in the year 2019 from $6,829 in 2018 on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis.
The 2020 Human Development Index also marks the 30th anniversary of the report.
