India Improves its Standing in the UN Human Development Index

India has been ranked 134 out of 193 countries in the 2022 United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), a notch higher than 135 out of 191 countries in 2021. In the Gender Inequality Index (GII) 2022, India has been ranked 108 out of 193 countries with a score of 0.437. Earlier, its rank was 122 out of 191 countries with a score of 0.490 in the GII-2021.

As per the women and child development ministry, this marked a significant jump of 14 ranks on the GII-2022 vis-a-vis the GII-2021.   Furthermore, in the just released 2023/24 Human Development Report (HDR), India's HDI value has increased to 0.644 in 2022, placing the country at 134 out of 193 countries and territories. This comes after a drop in its HDI value in 2021 and a flat trend over the past few years.

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The data was published in the United Nations Development Programme's report titled "Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining Cooperation in a Polarized World".  

India saw improvements across all HDI indicators including life expectancy, education, and gross national income (GNI) per capita. Life expectancy rose from 67.2 to 67.7 years, expected years of schooling reached 12.6, mean years of schooling increased to 6.57 and GNI per capita saw an increase from USD 6,542 to USD 6,951 in 2022.  

India demonstrated progress in reducing gender inequality. The country's GII value of 0.437 is better than the global and South Asian averages, according to the report.  

“India has shown remarkable progress,” says the report

The report said, "India has shown remarkable progress in human development over the years. Since 1990, life expectancy at birth has risen by 9.1 years, expected years of schooling have increased by 4.6 years and mean years of schooling have grown by 3.8 years. India's GNI per capita has grown by approximately 287 per cent."  

The UNDP report also states that inequality across the world is rising again. It further said that the gap between the richest and poorest countries has started to widen from 2020, after 20 years of convergence.  

(With inputs from Aaquil Jameel.)