Q.What are the three dimensions used to construct the Human Development Index (HDI)?
The Human Development Index (HDI), published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is built from three broad dimensions of human development, each given equal weight in the final index:
- A long and healthy life — measured through life expectancy at birth, which reflects a population's access to adequate nutrition, sanitation, healthcare, and a safe living environment.
- Knowledge and education — measured through indicators such as expected and mean years of schooling, reflecting a population's access to learning and the development of skills.
- A decent standard of living — measured through income per capita, adjusted for purchasing power, reflecting the population's command over material resources.
Each of these three dimensions is first converted into a separate index value between 0 and 1, and the three dimensional index values are then combined into the overall HDI score, again between 0 and 1, with a value closer to 1 indicating a higher level of human development. The specific current HDI value or global rank of any country is not covered here, since these figures are updated annually by the UNDP and are best checked directly from the current year's official report rather than treated as a fixed number.
The HDI's three dimensions are: a long and healthy life (life expectancy), knowledge (years of schooling), and a decent standard of living (purchasing-power-adjusted income per capita).
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