India's HDI rank rises to 130 in UNDP report

India continued its rise on the Human Development Index (HDI), improving its ranking from 133 in 2022 to 130 out of 193 countries in 2023, according to the 2025 Human Development Report (HDR) released by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on Tuesday.

- Vrinda Tulsian

NEW DELHI:

The 2025 HDR, titled "A matter of choice: People and possibilities in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)", linked India's progress to improvements in health, education, and income. The report highlighted the critical role of AI in shaping the next chapter of human development — particularly in fast-growing economies like India.

India's HDI increased from 0.644 in 2022 to 0.685 in 2023 even as the country remained in the medium human development category, moving closer to the threshold for high human development (HDI ≥ 0.700), with its score at par with Bangladesh's. Pakistan ranked 168th (0.544), Nepal 145th (0.622), and Sri Lanka 89th (0.776).