List of Indian states and union territories by Human Development Index

Encyclopedia

The national average HDI for India in 2008 was 0.467. By 2010, its average HDI had risen to 0.519. UNDP, the sponsor of Human Development Index methodology since 1990, reported India’s HDI to be 0.554 for 2012, an 18% increase over its 2008 HDI. United Nations declared India’s HDI is 0.586 in 2014, a 5.77% increase over 2012. As for the year 2018, HDI for India stood at 0.647.

HDI is composite index that takes into consideration (1) health, (2) Education and (3) Per capita income.

List

This is a list of Indian states and union territories by Human Development Index as of 2019.

Rank State/Union Territory HDI (2019) Comparable country
High human development
1 Kerala 0.782  Sri Lanka
2 Chandigarh 0.776  Armenia
3 Goa 0.763  China
4 Lakshadweep 0.751  Moldova
5 Delhi 0.746  Algeria
6 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 0.741  Dominica
7 Puducherry 0.740  Maldives
8 Himachal Pradesh 0.725  Tonga
9 Punjab 0.724  Libya
10 Sikkim 0.717  Bolivia
11 Tamil Nadu 0.709  South Africa
12 Daman and Diu 0.708  Palestine
Haryana
14 Mizoram 0.704  Vietnam
Medium human development
15 Maharashtra 0.697  Kyrgyzstan
Manipur
17 Jammu and Kashmir 0.688  Morocco
18 Uttarakhand 0.683  Guyana
19 Karnataka
20 Nagaland 0.679  Iraq
21 Gujarat 0.672  El Salvador
22 Telangana 0.669  Tajikistan
23 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 0.663  Guatemala
24 Arunachal Pradesh 0.661  Nicaragua
25 Tripura 0.658
26 Meghalaya 0.656  Bhutan
27 Andhra Pradesh 0.649  Namibia
–  India (average) 0.645
28 West Bengal 0.641  Bangladesh
29 Rajasthan 0.628  Sao Tome and Principe
30 Assam 0.613  Laos
31 Chhattisgarh 0.611  Ghana
32 Odisha 0.606  East Timor
33 Madhya Pradesh 0.603    Nepal
34 Jharkhand 0.599  Kenya
35 Uttar Pradesh 0.596  Cambodia
36 Bihar 0.574  Republic of the Congo

Trends by UNDP reports

Human Development Index (by UN Method) of Indian states since 1990 (2018 revision).

State HDI 1990 HDI 1995 HDI 2000 HDI 2005 HDI 2010 HDI 2015 HDI 2018
Northern India
Chandigarh 0.633 0.641 0.638 0.663 0.648 0.734 0.775
New Delhi 0.577 0.620 0.664 0.690 0.709 0.730 0.746
Haryana 0.467 0.506 0.549 0.591 0.634 0.686 0.708
Himachal Pradesh 0.479 0.530 0.589 0.644 0.667 0.704 0.725
Jammu and Kashmir 0.493 0.511 0.528 0.587 0.640 0.674 0.688
Madhya Pradesh 0.406 0.433 0.460 0.501 0.538 0.585 0.606
Punjab 0.496 0.536 0.578 0.615 0.657 0.703 0.723
Uttar Pradesh 0.397 0.429 0.463 0.504 0.535 0.577 0.596
Uttarakhand 0.629 0.635 0.630 0.656 0.641 0.664 0.684
Western India
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 0.672 0.683 0.684 0.709 0.696 0.663 0.663
Daman and Diu 0.651 0.662 0.664 0.688 0.677 0.690 0.708
Goa 0.552 0.581 0.614 0.671 0.737 0.754 0.761
Gujarat 0.470 0.498 0.527 0.573 0.606 0.651 0.672
Maharashtra 0.493 0.525 0.558 0.602 0.644 0.680 0.696
Rajasthan 0.403 0.436 0.469 0.510 0.548 0.605 0.629
Eastern India
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 0.683 0.693 0.694 0.720 0.707 0.721 0.739
West Bengal 0.440 0.473 0.505 0.539 0.572 0.619 0.641
Bihar 0.378 0.407 0.436 0.470 0.514 0.557 0.576
Chhattisgarh 0.562 0.569 0.564 0.588 0.574 0.594 0.613
Jharkhand 0.562 0.568 0.564 0.588 0.574 0.584 0.599
Odisha 0.400 0.429 0.458 0.494 0.535 0.585 0.606
Northeastern India
Assam 0.411 0.447 0.488 0.531 0.567 0.598 0.614
Arunachal Pradesh 0.437 0.471 0.502 0.535 0.641 0.661 0.660
Manipur 0.495 0.526 0.559 0.598 0.681 0.694 0.696
Meghalaya 0.456 0.469 0.477 0.533 0.620 0.648 0.656
Mizoram 0.525 0.547 0.569 0.630 0.686 0.698 0.705
Nagaland 0.531 0.533 0.522 0.557 0.661 0.679 0.679
Sikkim 0.541 0.548 0.548 0.590 0.633 0.691 0.716
Tripura 0.447 0.488 0.531 0.561 0.608 0.643 0.658
Southern India
Andhra Pradesh 0.424 0.450 0.478 0.530 0.580 0.629 0.650
Karnataka 0.444 0.479 0.518 0.565 0.605 0.659 0.682
Kerala 0.544 0.568 0.598 0.678 0.714 0.757 0.790
Lakshadweep 0.693 0.704 0.705 0.731 0.717 0.732 0.750
Puducherry 0.717 0.730 0.730 0.757 0.743 0.730 0.738
Tamil Nadu 0.471 0.504 0.542 0.599 0.646 0.689 0.708
Telangana 0.622 0.630 0.627 0.652 0.638 0.651 0.669
India 0.431 0.463 0.498 0.539 0.582 0.627 0.647

Trend analysis by Indian National Development Reports

Compared with the previous Indian National Human Development Reports and the latest state-level government statistical report, India has significantly improved its HDI in all of its administrative subdivisions:

Legend
Very High/High Human Development Index

  0.850–0.899
  0.800–0.849
  0.750–0.799
  0.700–0.749
 Medium human development index

  0.650–0.699
  0.600–0.649
  0.550–0.599
  0.500–0.549
 Low human development index

  0.450–0.499
  0.400–0.449
  0.350–0.399
  0.300–0.349
  0.250–0.299
  ≤0.250
  Lack of information

Human Development Index map for Indian states in 2006, as calculated by Government of India and UNDP India.

This is a list of Indian states by their respective Human Development Index (HDI), as of 2008. Kerala stands first in Human Development Index among the states in India.

  • 1981 to 2005 human development index in India

  • National Human Development Report 1981
    (1981 data)

  • National Human Development Report 1991
    (1991 data)

  • National Human Development Report 2001
    (2001 data)

  • State-level Census and Statistics 2008 report
    (2005 data)

  • National Human Development Report 2011
    (2007–2008 data)

Consumption-based HDI

There are many ways to calculate HDI, and its calculation is sensitive to base data and assumptions. Using another approach, UNDP India and Government of India calculated the HDI nationwide average to be 0.605 in 2006. This data was published by the Indian Government. Note that the 2007-2008 HDI values in the table below is not based on income as is the UNDP standard practice for global comparisons, but on estimated consumption expenditure – an assumption which underestimates the HDI compared to the actual value. Further, data was unavailable for the following union territories: Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, Puducherry, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Rank State/Union Territory consumption
based HDI[15]
(2007–08)for Indian states only
1 Kerala 0.810
2 Delhi 0.750
3 Himachal Pradesh 0.652
4 Goa 0.617
5 Punjab 0.605
6 Northeast India (excluding Assam) 0.573
7 Maharashtra 0.572
8 Tamil Nadu 0.570
9 Haryana 0.552
10 Jammu and Kashmir 0.542
11 Gujarat 0.527
12 Karnataka 0.519
– National average 0.513
13 West Bengal 0.492
14 Uttarakhand 0.490
15 Andhra Pradesh 0.473
16 Assam 0.444
17 Rajasthan 0.434
18 Uttar Pradesh 0.380
19 Jharkhand 0.376
20 Madhya Pradesh 0.375
21 Bihar 0.367
22 Odisha 0.362
23 Chhattisgarh 0.358