India moves up one rank on HDI to 130, Norway remains No.1

NEW DELHI: India climbed one spot to rank at 130 out of 189 countries in the latest Human Development Index (HDI) rankings released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The country’s HDI value for 2017 moved to 0.640, up from 0.624 in 2016.
Movements in the HDI are driven by changes in health, education and income. India has shown a steady improvement in its HDI value over the last few decades.It’s moved from 0.427 to 0.640 between 1990 and 2017 – an increase of nearly 50 per cent – indicating the country’s success in lifting millions out of poverty.

Between 1990 and 2017, India’s life expectancy at birth also increased by nearly 11 years. School-age children in the country can expect to stay in school for 4.7 years longer than what they did in 1990. The country's Gross National Income (GNI) per capita too has gone up by a staggering 266.6 per cent between 1990 and 2017.
Within South Asia, India’s HDI value is above the average of 0.638 for the region, with Bangladesh and Pakistan, countries with similar population size, ranked at 136 and 150 respectively.
Globally, Norway retained its number 1 ranking followed by Switzerland and Australia . At the bottom of list is Niger at 189 , three other African countries and one from Asia.