Human Development Index (HDI)
HDI = Human Development Index- How often
- Each new editionOnce a year
- Last released
- 1 May 20252025
2025, up from 134 of 193 in 2024.
Events on this chart
Source: UNDP, released 1 May 2025 · Chart: Clarity UPSC
- Previous
- 134 of 1932024
- Highest
- 134 of 1932024
- Lowest
- 130 of 1932025
3 readings since 2022.
Story
India's rank on health, education and income.
What is happening now As of 2025
The Human Development Report (HDR) 2025 ranks India 130th of 193 countries, level with Bangladesh, with a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.685 for 2023. On the report's revised data, India's HDI rose from 0.676 in 2022, when it ranked 133rd. India remains in the medium human development group, just below the 0.700 cut-off for the high group.
India's 2023 values are a life expectancy at birth of 72.0 years, 13.0 expected years of schooling for children, 6.9 mean years of schooling for adults, and Gross National Income (GNI) per person of about $9,047 at 2021 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). India ranks seven places lower on the HDI than on income per person.
Why it matters
The Human Development Index (HDI) judges a country by the lives its people can lead, not by income alone. It puts health and education beside income, so a country cannot rise far on income while its people's health or schooling lags.
The Human Development Report (HDR) also compares each country's HDI rank with its rank on income per person. A country that ranks lower on the HDI than on income turns less of its income into long, healthy and educated lives than others with similar incomes. The report links the HDI's indicators to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 (health), 4 (education) and 8 (decent work and economic growth).
What it is
The Human Development Index (HDI) measures a country's average achievement in three dimensions: a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living. Its four indicators are life expectancy at birth, expected years of schooling for children of school-entry age, mean years of schooling of adults aged 25 and over, and Gross National Income (GNI) per person in 2021 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) dollars, which adjust for price differences between countries.
Each indicator becomes an index from 0 to 1 using fixed minimum and maximum values, for example 20 and 85 years for life expectancy. Income enters as a logarithm, because each extra dollar adds less to people's capabilities. The HDI is the geometric mean of the health, education and income indices: the three are multiplied together and the cube root is taken. So a low score in one dimension cannot be fully made up by a high score in another.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) publishes the HDI in its Human Development Report. Countries fall into four groups by fixed cut-offs: very high (0.800 and above), high (0.700–0.799), medium (0.550–0.699) and low (below 0.550). A higher HDI and a lower rank number are better.
Read this number
Terms on this page (5)
- GNI
- Gross National Income
- HDR
- Human Development Report
- OPHI
- Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative
- PPP
- Purchasing Power Parity
- UNDP
- United Nations Development Programme
History
- 1990The first Human Development Report (HDR) introduces the Human Development Index (HDI). On the method used in HDR 2025, India's HDI for 1990 is 0.446.
- 2014Fixed cut-offs for the four human development groups are introduced; later reports keep them.
- 2025HDR 2025, 'A matter of choice: People and possibilities in the age of AI', is released on 6 May 2025. It ranks 193 countries on 2023 data and places India in the medium human development group.
Readings
| Period | Value | Status | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 130 of 193 | Final | 1 May 2025 |
| 2024 | 134 of 193 | Final | 1 Mar 2024 |
| 2022 | 132 of 191 | Final | 1 Sep 2022 |
For UPSC
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) publishes the Human Development Index (HDI). Know the three dimensions, the four indicators and the geometric mean. The same report carries the Gender Development Index, the Gender Inequality Index and the global Multidimensional Poverty Index, which the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) produces with UNDP's Human Development Report Office.