IMPORTANT GLOBAL REPORTS AND INDICES — ISSUING ORGANISATIONS, INDICATORS AND INDIA’S POSITION

PRERNA FOR IAS

         Mehnat Aapki, Guidance Humari

         Roz ki Prelims Practice — Experts ke Saath

IMPORTANT GLOBAL REPORTS AND INDICES — ISSUING ORGANISATIONS, INDICATORS AND INDIA’S POSITION

1. Importance of Global Reports and Indices

• International reports and indices compare countries on parameters such as human development, gender equality, happiness, environmental performance, innovation and economic freedom.
• They help governments, researchers and policymakers identify strengths, weaknesses and areas requiring policy intervention.
• Rankings should always be read with their methodology, data year and coverage, because different indices measure different aspects of development.

2. Human Development Report (HDR)

• The Human Development Report is published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• Its best-known measure, the Human Development Index (HDI), evaluates three dimensions: health, education and standard of living.
• These are measured through life expectancy, schooling indicators and GNI per capita.
• In the Human Development Report 2025, India ranked 130th among 193 countries, with an HDI value of 0.685, remaining in the medium human-development category. (UNDP)

3. Global Gender Gap Report

• The Global Gender Gap Report is published annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
• It measures gender parity across four dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.
• The index measures the gap between women and men rather than absolute development levels.
• In 2025, India ranked 131st among 148 economies, with about 64.4% of the gender gap closed. (Foro Económico Mundial)

4. World Happiness Report

• The World Happiness Report assesses people’s self-reported evaluations of their lives using data principally from the Gallup World Poll.
• The 2025 report was published by the Wellbeing Research Centre, University of Oxford, in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and an independent editorial board.
• Factors used to explain differences include income, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
• India ranked 118th among 147 countries in the 2025 report. (World Happiness Report)

5. Environmental Performance Index (EPI)