• India ranks 132 out of 191 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) 2021 from 130 in 2020, after registering a decline in its score over two consecutive years for the first time in three decades.
• The drop is in line with the global trend since the outbreak of COVID-19 during which 90% of the countries have fallen backward in human development.
• According to the report, released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India’s HDI value stood at 633 during 2021, which was lower than the world average of 0.732.
• In 2020, too, India recorded a decline in its HDI value (0.642) in comparison to the pre-Covid level of 2019 (0.645).
• HDI is composite index that measures average achievement in human development taking into account four indicators:
• life expectancy at birth (Sustainable Development Goal 3)
• expected years of schooling (SDG 4.3)
• mean years of schooling (SDG 4.4)
• gross national income (GNI) per capita (2017 PPP$) (SDG 8.5).
• In 2021, India’s Index values :
• life expectancy at birth was recorded at 2 years
• expected years of schooling at 9 years
• mean years of schooling at 7 years
• gross national income per capita (2017 PPP) at $6,590.
• On all these four parameters, India was behind the world averages in 2021: life expectancy at 71.4 years, expected years of schooling at 12.8 years, mean years of schooling at 8.6 years and gross national income per capita (2017 PPP$) at $16,752.

UPSC Prelims Model Question

Q. Who among the following releases the Human Development Index?

a) World Bank
b) International Monetary Fund
c) United Nations Development Programme
d) World Economic Forum