India ranks 131 out of 189 in Human Development Index of UN, worsens performance

India’s Human Development Index or HDI position has marginally dropped after improving last year. In the latest UNDP’s HDI ranking, India stands at 131. Last year India’s ranking was 129.

HDR is UNDP’s annual assessment of the state of human development worldwide and includes the Human Development Index (HDI), which measures individual countries’ progress.

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, the 2020 Human Development Report said.

India, Bhutan (129), Bangladesh (133), Nepal (142), and Pakistan (154) were ranked among countries with medium human development, the report said.

India’s HDI value for 2019 is 0.645 which puts it in the medium human development category. India has been positioned at 131 out of 189 countries and territories, according to the report. India had ranked 130 in 2018 in the index.

Norway topped the index, followed by Ireland, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Iceland, the report showed.

The report found that India’s gross national income per capita had fallen to $6,681 (Rs 4.9 lakh) in 2019 from $6,829 (Rs 5.03 lakh) in 2018 on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP). The PPP is a measurement for prices in different countries in terms of the purchasing power of the currency for specific goods.

Estimates for 2020, including the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, range from 780 million people affected by hunger to 829 million. By 2030, a total of 900 million people could be undernourished. In 2019, two billion people were moderately or severely food insecure, 367 million more than in 2014, according to the UNDP.

However, UNDP officials say this doesn’t mean India didn’t do well but others did better. UNDP Resident Representative Shoko Noda in fact praised India’s commitment to reduce carbon emission and said that India can help other countries too but also agreed there’s room for India for further improvements, in a webinar organized by the UNDP.