uman Development Report 2009

India

The Human Development Index - going beyond income

Each year since 1990 the Human Development Report has published the human development index (HDI) which looks
beyond GDP to a broader definition of well-being. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human
development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and
gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income).
The index is not in any sense a comprehensive measure of human development. It does not, for example, include important
indicators such as gender or income inequality nor more difficult to measure concepts like respect for human rights and
political freedoms. What it does provide is a broadened prism for viewing human progress and the complex relationship
between income and well-being.

Of the components of the HDI, only income and gross enrolment are somewhat responsive to short term policy changes. For
that reason, it is important to examine changes in the human development index over time. The human development index
trends tell an important story in that respect. Between 1980 and 2007 India's HDI rose by 1.33% annually from 0.427 to
0.612 today. HDI scores in all regions have increased progressively over the years (Figure 1) although all have experienced
periods of slower growth or even reversals.

Figure 1: HDI Trends

This year's HDI, which refers to 2007, highlights the very large gaps in well-being and life chances that continue to divide our
increasingly interconnected world. The HDI for India is 0.612, which gives the country a rank of 134 th out of 182 countries
with data (Table 1).

Table 1: India’s human development index 2007

 HDI value Life expectancy at Adult literacy Combined gross GDP per capita
birth rate enrolment ratio (PPP US$)
(years) (% ages 15 and (%)
above)
1. Norway (0.971) 1. Japan (82.7) 1. Georgia (100.0) 1. Australia 1. Liechtenstein
(114.2) (85,382)
132. Bhutan 126. Turkmenistan 118. Congo 132. Madagascar 126. Cape Verde
(0.619) (64.6) (Democratic (61.3) (3,041)
Republic of the)
(67.2)
133. Lao People's 127. Lao People's 119. Egypt (66.4) 133. Trinidad and 127. Guyana
Democratic Democratic Tobago (61.1) (2,782)
Republic (0.619) Republic (64.6)
134. India (0.612) 128. India (63.4) 120. India (66.0) 134. India (61.0) 128. India (2,753)
135. Solomon 129. Yemen (62.5) 121. Ghana (65.0) 135. Morocco 129. Viet Nam
Islands (0.610) (61.0) (2,600)
136. Congo 130. Togo (62.2) 122. Rwanda 136. Nepal (60.8) 130. Nicaragua
(0.601) (64.9) (2,570)
182. Niger (0.340) 176. Afghanistan 151. Mali (26.2) 177. Djibouti 181. Congo
(43.6) (25.5) (Democratic
Republic of the)
(298)

By looking at some of the most fundamental aspects of people’s lives and opportunities the HDI provides a much more
complete picture of a country's development than other indicators, such as GDP per capita. Figure 2 illustrates that countries
on the same level of HDI can have very different levels of income or that countries with similar levels of income can have
very different HDIs.

Figure 2: The human development index gives a more complete picture than income
Human poverty: focusing on the most deprived in multiple dimensions of
poverty
The HDI measures the average progress of a country in human development. The Human Poverty Index (HPI-1), focuses
on the proportion of people below certain threshold levels in each of the dimensions of the human development index - living
a long and healthy life, having access to education, and a decent standard of living. By looking beyond income deprivation,
the HPI-1 represents a multi-dimensional alternative to the $1.25 a day (PPP US$) poverty measure.

The HPI-1 value of 28.0% for India, ranks 88th among 135 countries for which the index has been calculated.

The HPI-1 measures severe deprivation in health by the proportion of people who are not expected to survive to age 40.
Education is measured by the adult illiteracy rate. And a decent standard of living is measured by the unweighted average of
people not using an improved water source and the proportion of children under age 5 who are underweight for their age.
Table 2 shows the values for these variables for India and compares them to other countries.

Table 2: Selected indicators of human poverty for India

Human Poverty Probability of not Adult illiteracy People not using Children
Index (HPI-1) surviving to age rate (%ages 15 an improved underweight for
40 (%) and above) water source (%) age (% aged under
5)
1. Czech Republic 1. Hong Kong, 1. Georgia (0.0) 1. Barbados (0) 1. Croatia (1)
(1.5) China (SAR) (1.4)
86. Djibouti (25.6) 103. Bolivia 118. Congo 74. Kyrgyzstan 135. Yemen (46)
(13.9) (Democratic (11)
Republic of the)
(32.8)
87. Cambodia 104. Bhutan (14.2) 119. Egypt (33.6) 75. Syrian Arab 136. Timor-Leste
(27.7) Republic (11) (46)
88. India (28.0) 105. India (15.5) 120. India (34.0) 76. India (11) 137. India (46)
89. Ghana (28.1) 106. Yemen (15.6) 121. Ghana (35.0) 77. China (12) 138. Bangladesh
(48)
90. Malawi (28.2) 107. Papua New 122. Rwanda 78. Samoa (12)
Guinea (15.9) (35.1)
135. Afghanistan 153. Lesotho 151. Mali (73.8) 150. Afghanistan
(59.8) (47.4) (78)

Building the capabilities of women

The HDI measures average achievements in a country, but it does not incorporate the degree of gender imbalance in these
achievements. The gender-related development index (GDI), introduced in Human Development Report 1995, measures
achievements in the same dimensions using the same indicators as the HDI but captures inequalities in achievement
between women and men. It is simply the HDI adjusted downward for gender inequality. The greater the gender disparity in
basic human development, the lower is a country's GDI relative to its HDI.

India's GDI value, 0.594 should be compared to its HDI value of 0.612. Its GDI value is 97.1% of its HDI value. Out of the
155 countries with both HDI and GDI values, 138 countries have a better ratio than India's.

Table 3 shows how India’s ratio of GDI to HDI compares to other countries, and also shows its values for selected
underlying indicators in the calculation of the GDI.

Table 3: The GDI compared to the HDI – a measure of gender disparity

GDI as % of HDI Life expectancy at Adult literacy Combined primary,
birth(years) 2004 rate (% ages 15 and secondary and tertiary
older) 2004 gross enrolment
ratio2004
Female as % male Female as % male Female as % male
1. Mongolia (100.0%) 1. Russian Federation 1. Lesotho (122.5%) 1. Cuba (121.0%)
(121.7%)
137. United Arab 151. Côte d'Ivoire 121. Sudan (72.8%) 140. Senegal (90.0%)
Emirates (97.2%) (104.7%)
138. Sierra Leone 152. Malta (104.7%) 122. Guinea-Bissau 141. Sudan (89.3%)
(97.1%) (72.5%)
139. India (97.1%) 153. India (104.7%) 123. India (70.9%) 142. India (89.3%)
140. Sudan (97.0%) 154. Africa (104.4%) 124. Eritrea (69.6%) 143. Burundi (89.3%)
141. Benin (97.0%) 155. Occupied 125. Congo 144. Congo (89.1%)
Palestinian Territories (Democratic Republic
(104.4%) of the) (66.8%)
155. Afghanistan 190. Swaziland (98.0%) 145. Afghanistan 175. Afghanistan
(88.0%) (29.2%) (55.6%)

Migration
Every year, millions of people cross national or international borders seeking better living standards. Most migrants, internal
and international, reap gains in the form of higher incomes, better access to education and health, and improved prospects
for their children. Most of the world’s 195 million international migrants have moved from one developing country to another
or between developed countries.

India has an emigration rate of 0.8%. The major continent of destination for migrants from India is Asia with 72.0% of
emigrants living there.

Table 4: Emigrants
Origin of migrants Emigration rate (%) Major continent of (%)
destination for
migrants
1. Antigua and Barbuda 45.3 Asia 46.6
53. Afghanistan 10.6 Asia 91.4
146. Pakistan 2.2 Asia 72.5
156. Iran (Islamic 1.3 Northern America 39.6
Republic of)
169. India 0.8 Asia 72.0
180. Maldives 0.4 Asia 38.9
181. Mongolia 0.3 Europe 40.7
Global aggregates
Medium human 1.9 Asia 43.3
development
South Asia 1.6 Asia 78.0
World 3.0 Europe 33.4

The United States is host to nearly 40 million international migrants – more than any other country though as a share of total
population it is Qatar which has the most migrants – more than 4 in every 5 people are migrants. In India, there are 5,886.9
thousand migrants which represent 0.5% of the total population.

Table 5: Immigrants
Destination of Immigrant stock Destination of Immigrants as a share
migrants (thousands) migrants of population (%) 2005
1. United States 39,266.5 1. Qatar 80.5
70. Bhutan 5.7
144. Maldives 1.1
153. Bangladesh 0.7
7. India 5,886.9 158. India 0.5
12. Pakistan 3,554.0 167. Afghanistan 0.4
20. Iran (Islamic 2,062.2
Republic of)
180. Maldives 3.2
182. Vanuatu 1.0 182. China 0.0
Global aggregates
South Asia 13,847.0 South Asia 0.9
Medium human 40,948.6 Medium human 0.8
development development
World 195,245.4 World 3.0

Remittances
Remittances, which are usually sent to immediate family members who have stayed behind, are among the most direct
benefits from migration; their benefits spread broadly into local economies. They also serve as foreign exchange earnings
for the origin countries of migrants. However, remittances are unequally distributed. Of the total US$370 billion remitted in
2007, more than half went to countries in the medium human development category against less than one per cent to low
human development countries. In 2007, US$35,262 million in remittances were sent to India. Average remittances per
person were US$30, compared with the average for South Asia of US$33. (See Table 6 for more details.)

Table 6: Remittances
Total remittance inflows(US$ millions) Remittances per capita(US$)
1. Luxembourg 3,355
67. Sri Lanka 131
98. Bangladesh 41
102. Pakistan 37
1. India 35,262 106. India 30
15. Bangladesh 6,562 126. Iran (Islamic 16
Republic of)
17. Pakistan 5,998 133. Maldives 10
151. Maldives 3
157. Burundi 0 157. Burundi 0
Global aggregates
South Asia 53,201 South Asia 33
Medium human 189,093 Medium human 44
development development
World 370,765 World 58