Context: India has ranked 130 out of 193 countries in the recently released Human Development Report 2025, ‘A Matter of Choice: People and Possibilities in the Age of AI’. India has improved its ranking from 2022, reflecting gradual improvements in key development indicators.
Relevance of the Topic : Prelims: Key facts related to Human Development Report 2025.
Human Development Report
- Annual report published by: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
- The first HDR was launched in 1990 by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and Indian Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.
- The report provides Human Development Index (HDI) which measures a country's performance across three dimensions:
- Health: Life expectancy at birth
- Education: Mean & expected years of schooling
- Standard of living: Gross National Income (GNI) per capita.
- HDI Score Range: 0 (lowest) to 1 (highest).
- Based on the scores, the countries are classified into: Very High Human Development, High Human Development, Medium Human Development, Low Human Development.
Key Highlights of Human Development Report 2025
- Theme: A Matter of Choice: People and Possibilities in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
- The report highlights AI's potential to reignite human development, provided that policies are people-centered and focus on enhancing human capabilities.
- Ireland secured the first spot in the Index with a score of 0.972.
India’s Performance:
- India has ranked 130th out of 193 countries, moving up three places from 133 in 2022.
- India’s HDI value has increased from 0.676 (2022) to 0.685, showing an improvement in areas like health, education, and income.
- However, India still falls under the medium human development category (which includes countries with HDI values between 0.550 and 0.699).
- However, with a score of 0.685, India is now very close to entering the high human development category, which starts at 0.700.
India’s achievements over the years (as highlighted in the Report):
- Gross National Income per capita has risen over four times to $9,046.76 in 2023 from $2,167.22 in 1990.
- 135 million Indians have escaped multidimensional poverty between FY16 and FY21.
- India’s life expectancy at 72 years in 2023, is the highest level it has reached since the inception of the index in 1990 (58.6 years).
- Children are expected to stay in school for 13 years on average, up from 8.2 years in 1990.
It is a result of programmes such as MGNREGA, the Right to Education Act, the National Rural Health Mission and other initiatives.
The report highlights deep-rooted inequalities in India:
- Income and gender inequalities have pulled down India’s overall HDI by 30.7%, one of the highest losses in the region.
- Women’s participation in the workforce and politics still remains low.
- Economic Survey of 2024-25: Female labour participation rate has risen to 41.7% in 2023-24.
- Recent measures like the constitutional amendment reserving one-third of legislative seats for women offer inclusive political participation.
The report highlights a global slowdown in human development, stating that the rate of progress is the slowest since 1990. India is also affected by this trend.