HDI: INDIA STILL LAGGING
India continues to rank more towards the bottom of the ladder in terms of the human development index (HDI), even as it seems to perform better than most of its neighbouring countries. According to the Human Development Report, 2011, released on Wednesday, India is defined as being in the medium human development category and is ranked 134 out of 187 countries. The report this time also draws a link between environment sustainability, equity and human development. According to the report, the most disadvantaged people carry a "double burden of deprivation" by being more vulnerable to wider effects of environmental degradation. For instance, in developing countries at least six in ten people experience one environmental deprivation and four in ten experience two or more. However, it also concludes that recent progress in HDI has come at the cost of global warming with those countries advancing the fastest in HDI showing fastest growth in carbon dioxide emissions as well.
Compiled by Ruhi Tewari [email protected]
HDI indicators for top and bottom five countries
India's rank has risen by one in the last five years HDI rank 2011 Life expectancy at birth
(in years)
Expected years of schooling
Mean years of schooling*
(constant 2005 PPP $)
Gross national income per capita
Change in HDI rank between 2006-11
1 2 3 4 5 134 183 184 185 186 187
Norway Australia Netherlands US New Zealand INDIA Chad Mozambique Burundi Niger Congo
81.1 81.9 80.7 78.5 80.7 65.4 49.6 50.2 50.4 54.7 48.4
17.3 18 16.8 16 18 10.3 7.2 9.2 10.5 4.9 8.21
12.6 12 11.6 12.4 12.5 4.4 1.5 1.2 2.7 1.4 3.5
47,557 34,431 36,402 43,017 23,737 3,468 1,105 898 368 641 280
0 0 5 -1 0 1 -2 0 0 0 0
India's HDI trends since 1980
Between 1980 and 2011, India's life expectancy at birth increased by 10.1 years while mean years of schooling increased by 2.5 years
Life expectancy at birth
(in years)
66 64
55.3
65.4
62 60 58 56 54 2011
Schooling
Expected years of schooling Mean years of schooling* 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1980
1980
1990
2000
2010
Gross national income per capita
(constant 2005 PPP $)
10.3 6.5 896 3,468 4.4 1.9
1990 2000 2010
3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 2011
2011
1980
1990
2000
2010
India's HDI indicators relative to some of its neighbours
While India falls in the broad category of medium human development countries, its neighbours such as Pakistan and Bangladesh are considered as low human development countries HDI rank 2011 Life expectancy at birth
(in years)
Expected years of schooling
Mean years of schooling*
(constant 2005 PPP $)
Gross national income per capita
HDI value
134 145 146 157
INDIA Pakistan Bangladesh Nepal South Asia
65.4 65.4 68.9 68.8 65.9
10.3 6.9 8.1 3.2 9.8
4.4 4.9 4.8 8.8 4.6
3,468 2,550 1,529 1,160 3,435
0.547 0.504 0.5 0.458 0.548
India's gender inequality index (GII)** for 2011 relative to its neighbours
While India fares Maternal better than its mortality neighbours on most ratio (number of counts, female maternal representation in politics here remains deaths per 1,00,000 abysmally low live births) Adolescent fertility rate Female seats in Parliament
(%)
(number of births per 1000 women aged 15-19)
Population with at least secondary education
(%)
Labour force participation rate
(%)
Female Male
Female Male
INDIA Pakistan Bangladesh Nepal South Asia
230 260 340 380 252
86.3 31.6 78.9 103.4 77.4
10.7 21 18.6 33.2 12.5
26.6 23.5 30.8 17.9 27.3
50.4 46.8 39.3 39.9 49.2
32.8 21.7 58.7 63.3 34.6
81.1 84.9 82.5 80.3 81.2
Multidimensional poverty index (MPI)***
MPI shows that income poverty tells only a part of the deprivation story and that individuals living above the poverty line may also suffer deprivations in education, health and other living conditions. For instance, for India the MPI headcount is 12.1 percentage points higher than income poverty
Head count
(in %)
INDIA Pakistan Bangladesh Nepal Population vulnerable to poverty
Those suffering multiple deprivations
Intensity of deprivation
average % of deprivation experienced by people in multidimensional poverty
53.7 49.4 57.8 64.7 Population in severe poverty 28.6 27.4 26.2 37.1 Population below income poverty line
52.7 53.4 50.4 54
vulnerable to multiuple deprivations
16.4 11 21.2 15.6
41.6 22.6 49.6 55.1
*Average year of adult education (25 year and above) ** GII reflects gender based inequalities in three dimensionsreproductive health, empowerment and economic activity ***MPI identifies multiple deprivations in the same households in education, health and standard of living
Graphics by Ahmed Raza Khan/Mint Source: Human Development Report, 2011
