Bangladesh had also moved up three spots and ranked 139th in HDI 2015 due to the remarkable progress it has made in many socio-economic areas, including life expectancy and per capita income.

India also climbed one spot to 130th position among the countries in the latest report ‘Human Development Indices and Indicators’ released on September 14.

Human development data, analysis and reporting have been at the heart of that paradigm.

UNDP’s Human Development Index has captured human progress, combining information on people’s health, education and income in just one number. 

Over the years, the HDI has served as a comparative tool of excellence, and as a reliable platform for vigorous public debates on national priorities. 

UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said the Human Development Report will remain UNDP’s premier vehicle to advance development thinking. “Our mission to capture the state of global human development and inform development policy across the globe has never been more crucial.”

UNDP said still, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require new indicators for assessing the many faces of inequality, the impact of the global environmental crisis on people now and tomorrow, the importance of voice, and the ways in which communities rather than individuals are progressing. 

Director, Human Development Report Office, Selim Jahan said while there is ground for optimism that the gaps are narrowing, disparities in people’s well-being are still unacceptably wide. 

He said inequality in all its forms and dimensions, between and within countries, limits people’s choices and opportunities, withholding progress. 

Within South Asia, India's HDI value is above the average of 0.638 for the region, with Bangladesh and Pakistan, countries with similar population size, being ranked 136 and 150 respectively.

Human Development Indices and Indicators: 2018 Statistical update was released to ensure consistency in reporting on key human development indices and statistics. It includes an analysis of the state of human development—snapshots of current conditions as well as long-term trends in human development indicators.

With a comprehensive statistical annex, the data gives an overview of the state of development across the world, looking at long-term trends in human development indicators across multiple dimensions and for every nation, the 2018 Update highlights the considerable progress, but also the persistent deprivations and disparities.

Looking at 2018 results, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland and Germany lead the HDI ranking of 189 countries and territories, while Niger, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Chad and Burundi have the lowest scores in the HDI’s measurement of national achievements in health, education and income.

The overall trend globally is toward continued human development improvements, with many countries moving up through the human development categories: out of the 189 countries for which the HDI is calculated, 59 countries are today in the very high human development group and only 38 countries fall in the low HDI group. Just eight years ago in 2010, the figures were 46 and 49 countries respectively.