India slips by one spot on UN’s human development index

India has climbed down one spot in the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme, ranking 132 out of 191 countries and territories. The report said that 90% of countries have registered a reduction in their HDI value in 2020 or 2021, reversing progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

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The HDI, which is calculated on the measure of a nation’s health, education, and average income, has seen a decline for two years in a row – 2020 and 2021. The UNDP said this “reverses five years of progress” and “is in line with the global decline, indicating that human development across the world has stalled for the first time in 32 years.”

Similar to global trends, in India’s case, the HDI dropped from 0.645 in 2019 to 0.633 in 2021. This can be attributed to falling life expectancy, which fell from 69.7 years to 67.2 years. “India’s expected years of schooling stand at 11.9 years, and the mean years of schooling are at 6.7 years. The GNI per capita level is $6,590,” the UNDP said.

In addition to that, the report said that 9 out of 10 countries fell backward in human development in the face of multiple crises like COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and dangerous planetary changes. For the first time, Human Development has declined for two years in a row, with 90 percent of countries registering a decline in their HDI value in 2020 or 2021.