Gender Development Index

Geography glossary

Also called: GDI · Topic: Human Development: Concept, Approaches and Measurement · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Gender Development Index (GDI) is a UNDP measure that divides the Human Development Index (HDI) of women by the HDI of men, to show how far women lag behind men in health, education and income.

  • It matters because the ordinary HDI gives one average for the whole country. That average can hide the fact that women are much further behind than men.
  • A value of 1 means parity (women and men are equal). A value below 1 means women are behind. India's value is well below 1.

Explanation

How it works: HDI split by sex

  • Human Development Index (HDI): the UNDP's summary score from 0 to 1. It combines three dimensions:
  • a long and healthy life (health)
  • knowledge (education)

  • a decent standard of living (income)

  • The GDI uses the same three dimensions, but it measures them twice.

  • First, the HDI is worked out for women only (female HDI).
  • Then the HDI is worked out for men only (male HDI).

  • Finally, GDI = female HDI ÷ male HDI.

  • Reading the result:

  • GDI = 1: women and men have equal human development.

  • GDI below 1: women are behind men. The further below 1, the bigger the gap.

  • The UNDP first brought in the GDI in 1995. It revised the method in 2014 to the present form, a simple ratio of female HDI to male HDI.

Why it was needed: the limits of the HDI

  • The HDI shows the average, not how it is shared. NCERT says the HDI measures average attainment (what a country has achieved on average) and not distribution (how that achievement is shared among people).
  • So the GDI is one of the companion indices. Each one fixes a different gap in the HDI:
  • the IHDI looks at inequality among all people
  • the MPI looks at overlapping poverty
  • the GDI and GII look at gender
  • the PHDI looks at pressure on the planet

What pulls India's GDI below 1

  • The income gap is the main reason. Women in India earn far less than men.
  • Women do much less paid work.
  • Female labour-force participation (the share of people aged 15 and over who work or look for work) was 35.1%, against 76.4% for men [1].

  • Fewer women in paid work means a lower income score for women. This drags down the female HDI, and so the GDI.

  • Inequality hits India's HDI as a whole.

  • Inequality cuts India's HDI by 30.7% (HDR 2025), one of the highest losses in its region [1].
  • Health and education inequality have improved, but income and gender gaps are still large [1].

Where it occurs

  • Who publishes it: the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), in its Human Development Report (HDR). It has been in use since 1995 and was revised in 2014.
  • India:
  • GDI well below 1, mainly because of the income gap between women and men.
  • In HDR 2025 (data year 2023), India ranked 130 of 193 countries on the HDI, with an HDI of 0.685. This puts it in the medium human development group [1].

  • On the related Gender Inequality Index (GII), India ranked 102nd of 193 [1].

  • Within India: a single national figure hides gaps between regions, such as Kerala and Bihar, between cities and villages, and between social groups. That is why state-level and district-level data matter for gender planning too.

Don't confuse with

  • Gender Inequality Index (GII, 2010): it runs in the opposite direction. 0 = full equality and 1 = worst inequality. The GDI uses 1 = parity. The GII also has no income indicator. It uses reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market.
  • Human Development Index (HDI, 1990): it gives one average for all people. The GDI splits that score into a female HDI and a male HDI and compares them.
  • Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI, 2010): it cuts the HDI for inequality among all people (loss to inequality = the % gap between HDI and IHDI). The GDI looks only at the gap between women and men.
  • Planetary pressures-adjusted HDI (PHDI, 2020): it lowers the HDI for CO₂ emissions per person and material footprint per person. It has nothing to do with gender.

Prelims Hooks

  • GDI = female HDI ÷ male HDI. It is built by the UNDP. It was introduced in 1995 and revised in 2014.
  • Direction trap: in the GDI, 1 = parity, but in the GII, 0 = equality. Do not mix up the two directions.
  • The GDI uses the same three dimensions as the HDI: health, education and income. The GII has no income indicator.
  • India's GDI is well below 1, mainly because of the income gap. Female LFPR (15+) is 35.1%, against 76.4% for men [1].
  • HDR 2025: India's HDI rank is 130/193, HDI 0.685, GII rank 102, and inequality loss 30.7% [1].
  • Companion indices by year: PQLI (1979) → HDI (1990) → GDI (1995) → IHDI, GII and MPI (2010) → PHDI (2020).

Mains Points

  • Gender is the weakest link in India's human development (GS-I society).
  • A GDI well below 1, a GII rank of 102, and female LFPR of 35.1% against 76.4% for men all point to one problem [1].
  • Women's low share of paid work is the main brake on India's human development.

  • Policy response: get more women into paid work. This raises women's income, which lifts the female HDI and the GDI.

  • National averages hide gender and regional gaps.

  • India loses 30.7% of its HDI to inequality, and income and gender gaps are still large [1].
  • One national figure also hides gaps between states such as Kerala and Bihar.
  • So planning should use GDI-type data broken down by sex for each state and district, not just one national number.

Related concepts

Read more

Sources

  1. 1India's human development continues to make progress, ranks 130 out of 193 countries (UNDP/UN India, HDR 2025)india.un.org · tier 2