Global Human Development Index Report 2022

• Context (TH | TOI | HT): India climbed one spot on the global Human Development Index (HDI) for the year 2022.

About the Global Human Development Index (HDI) Report 2022

• HDI: It is a composite index that measures average achievement in human development, considering four indicators.
  • Life expectancy at birth.
  • Expected years of schooling.
  • Mean years of schooling.
  • Gross national income (GNI).
• Published by: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• Title: Breaking the gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarised world.
• India’s status in HDI: Placed in the medium human development category.
• Rank: 134 (2022) out of 193 countries (Earlier 135 (2021)).
• Top ranking country: Switzerland.
• Comparison with neighboring countries: Both Sri Lanka (78) and China (75) are in the High Human Development category.
  • India ranks lower than Bhutan, placed 125th, and Bangladesh, which is at the 129th position.
• Positives: In 2022, India’s HDI indicators improved in all areas.
  • Life expectancy increased from 67.2 to 67.7 years.
  • Expected years of schooling rose to 12.6.
  • Mean years of schooling went up to 6.57.
  • GNI per capita also increased from $6,542 to $6,951.

India’s first state-level human development index was brought out by Madhya Pradesh in 1995.

Other Key Findings

Gender inequality

• India demonstrated progress in reducing gender inequality, with a value of 0.437 that is better than the global and South Asian averages.
• It now ranks 108 out of 166 countries in the gender inequality index (GII) 2022.
• The country’s reproductive health performance is better than that of other countries in the medium human development group or South Asia.
• India’s adolescent birth rate in 2022 was 16.3 (births per 1,000 women ages 15-19), an improvement from 17.1 in 2021.
• Challenges: India also has one of the largest gender gaps in the labour force participation rate, with a 47.8% difference between women (28.3%) and men (76.1%)

Inequality

• The report says that inequality across the world is rising again. After 20 years of convergence, the gap between the richest and poorest countries has started to widen from 2020.