India moves up three places to 130 on UNDP's Human Development Index

India moves up in development index

India’s latest ranking in the Human Development Index has improved to 130 in 2023, as compared to 133 in the previous year, a new report released by United Nations Development Programme showed on May 6.

India’s score on the index improved from 0.685 from 0.676 in the previous year, taking the ranking to 130 alongside Bangladesh on the HDI scale.

“We congratulate India on its notable progress in the Human Development Index, rising from rank 133 in 2022 to 130 in 2023. This advancement reflects sustained improvements in key dimensions of human development, particularly in mean years of schooling and national income per capita," said Angela Lusigi, Resident Representative, UNDP India.

The UN's HDI index measures a country’s progress across three broad measures - health, education and income levels. Health is measured using life expectancy as a parameter, while education is measured using mean and expected years of schooling, and income levels are determined by measuring gross national income in per capita terms based on purchasing power parity.

India's life expectancy reached its highest level of 72 years, rising from 58.6 in 1990.

Expected years of schooling have increased from eight years in 1990 to 13 years.

"Over the years, India’s progress on economic growth and investments in programmes like MGNREGA, Jan Dhan Yojana, and digital inclusion have contributed to poverty reduction. Importantly, 135 million Indians escaped multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21," UNDP noted.

The report found that high inequality was a bane for the country, as it reduced HDI by 30.7 percent.

"While health and education inequality have improved, income and gender disparities remain significant," it said.

India’s GNI at 9,041 PPP dollars was higher than Bangladesh’s 8,498 PPP dollars. Bangladesh was ranked 131 in 2022.

Bhutan is ranked above India at 125. Sri Lanka at 89 and Vietnam at 93, have slipped from their previous rank of 88 and 91, respectively.

Pakistan is a low HDI country with a rank of 168.

China was ranked higher at 78, but slipped four places from 74 in 2022, and the US was at 17.

"The 2025 HDR reveals that the current pace of progress is the slowest since 1990 – and India is no exception. Had pre-2020 trends continued, the world would be on track to reach very high human development by 2030, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal timelines," the report pointed out.

Leading on the AI front 

The report also placed India high on adoption of new technologies like artificial intelligence.

It termed India as a rising AI powerhouse with people reporting highest penetration. The country was also able to hold on to its talent, with 20 percent retention compared with zero in 2019.

"India is leveraging AI to deliver inclusive growth. From agriculture to healthcare to public service delivery, AI is being developed and deployed to solve complex challenges at scale," UNDP stated.

Nearly two-thirds of the global population was optimistic about AI creating jobs and boosting productivity.