Human Development Index 2020

The Human Development Report 2020 was released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with the theme – The Next frontier, Human Development and the Anthropocene.

• The 2020 Report has introduced planetary pressures-adjusted Human Development Index, which adjusts the standard Human Development Index (HDI) by a country’s per capita carbon dioxide emissions and material footprint. Norway topped the index, followed by Ireland and Switzerland.

India’s Rank

Out of 189 countries, India has ranked 131 on the Human Development Index 2020, with an HDI value of 0.645. India is categorized as the medium human development category country.

If the Index were adjusted to assess the planetary pressures caused by each nation’s development, India would move up eight places in the ranking.

• Inequality adjusted HDI: HDI report also gives an Inequality-adjusted HDI or the IHDI. After this adjustment, the HDI value for India fell by 26.4%, causing the value to reach 0.475
• Gender Development Index: As per the HDR 2020, the GDI value of India for females was 0.573, which indicates lower level of gender development.
• Gender Inequality Index: The value of the country on Gender Inequality Index was 0.488, which made it rank at the 123rd place out of the 162 nations, indicating widespread gender inequality.

HDI Dimensions

• Life Expectancy: Females in India had a value of 71.0 years, while that for males was 68.5 years.
• Education: It is measured by expected years of schooling for children, and mean years of schooling for adults.
• The expected years of schooling for males in India was valued at 11.7 years, while that for females was 12.6 years. On the other hand, mean years of schooling for males was 8.7 years and for females was 5.4 years.
• Economic Resources: It takes into consideration the estimated GNI per capita for males and females. For females, this value was $2,331, while for males, it was at $10,702, which shows significantly large disparities.