NEW DELHI: India climbed one spot to 130 among 189 countries in the latest human development rankings released on Friday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). India’s HDI value for 2017 is 0.640, which put the country in the medium human development category. Between 1990 and 2017, India’s HDI value increased from 0.427 to 0.640, an increase of nearly 50 per cent—an indicator of the country’s remarkable achievement of lifting millions of people out of poverty.
Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland and Germany lead the ranking, while Niger, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Chad and Burundi have the lowest scores in the HDI’s measurement of national achievements in health, education and income.
In South Asia, India’s HDI value is above the average of 0.638 for the region, with Bangladesh and Pakistan, countries with similar population size, being ranked 136 and 150, respectively.
Movements in the HDI are driven by changes in health, education and income. Health has improved considerably as shown by life expectancy at birth, which has increased by almost seven years globally, with Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia showing the greatest progress, each experiencing increases of about 11 years since 1990. Today’s school-age children can expect to be in school for 3.4 years longer than those in 1990.
Between 1990 and 2017, India’s life expectancy at birth increased by nearly 11 years, with even more significant gains in expected years of schooling. Today’s Indian school-age children can expect to stay in school for 4.7 years longer than in 1990.
“On average, a child born today in a country with low human development can expect to live just over 60 years, while a child born in a country with very high human development can expect to live to almost 80. Similarly, children in low human development countries can expect to be in school seven years less than children in very high human development countries,” said Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator.