The UN Human Development Index (HDI) was introduced in 1990 by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, with assistance from Amartya Sen. Since 1993, it has been a key component of the United Nations Development Programme's annual report. The HDI evaluates a country's average achievements in three fundamental dimensions of human development:
- Health and Longevity:
- This is assessed through life expectancy at birth, indicating the average number of years a person is expected to live.
- Education:
- This dimension is evaluated based on adult literacy rates and the combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary, and tertiary education.
- Standard of Living:
- This is measured using Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) in US Dollars, reflecting the average income and purchasing power of the population.
UN member states are ranked and listed annually according to these HDI measures. In 2010, the Human Development Report introduced the Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI). This index takes into account inequalities in the three fundamental dimensions of human development (income, life expectancy, and education) and adjusts the HDI accordingly.
As of the 2018 HDI rankings, India was positioned at 130 out of 189 countries. Over the period from 1990 to 2017, India's HDI value saw a substantial increase from 0.427 to 0.640, representing a growth of nearly 50 percent. This indicates India's noteworthy progress in lifting millions of people out of poverty. During the same period, India also experienced significant advancements in life expectancy and expected years of schooling. In 2023, India ranked 132 out of 191 countries in the UNDP's Human Development Index. This score is close to the world average of 0.465. However, India's rank has gone down from 132nd to 134th position when adjusted for inequality.
