India Jumps 14 Ranks on UNDP Gender Inequality Index

According to the Human Development Report 2023-2024 released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India has made significant progress in bridging the gender divide. The country has improved its ranking by 14 positions on the Gender Inequality Index (GII) 2022 compared to the previous year.

In the GII 2022, India ranked 108 out of 193 countries, with a score of 0.437. This marks a significant improvement from the 2021 ranking of 122 out of 191 countries, with a score of 0.490. Over the past decade, India’s rank in the GII has consistently improved, indicating steady progress towards achieving gender equality.

The Gender Inequality Index

The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is a composite measure that evaluates gender inequality across three dimensions:

1. Reproductive health
2. Empowerment
3. Labor market participation

It takes into account indicators such as maternal mortality ratio, adolescent birth rate, percentage of parliamentary seats held by women, population with secondary education by gender, and labour force participation by gender. A lower GII value indicates lower inequality between women and men.

The 2023-2024 HDR builds on the 2021–2022 Human Development Report findings, which saw the global HDI value fall for the first time—two years in a row. This report reveals that human development recovery is uneven in nature. While wealthy countries are showing signs of robust recovery, the poorest are struggling. All the member countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have surpassed their 2019 HDI level. But among least developed countries, only one in two have recovered their already low pre-crisis HDI levels.

Top-Ranked Countries

The top-ranked countries in the GII 2022 are:

1. Denmark
2. Norway
3. Switzerland
4. Sweden
5. Netherlands

India’s Progress on Gender Inequality Index