- Human Capital Index 2020 (HCI) is a report released by World Bank. It is a report to measure human capital on the basis of various benchmarks and components across various countries. First Human Capital Index was released in 2018. HCI measures the human capital in such a way that how a new born can attain by his/her 18th birthday.
- Human Capital Index 2020 has covered the data of 174 countries across the world. This year, 17 new countries have been added in the index as compared to 2018 index. 157 countries were covered in HCI 2018.
- The Human Capital Index provides scores to the countries on the basis of their performance. The HCI score ranges from 0 to 1. It means that a country will be allotted a score between 0 and 1. For example, if a country gets a HCI score or value of 0.5 then it means that a new born child will be half productive as a future worker if he/she gets complete education and resources.
Components of Human Capital Index
- Component 1- Survival from birth to school age; measured using under 5 mortality rate
- Component 2- Expected years of learning-adjusted school, combining information on the quantity and quality of education
- Component 3- Health
Key Findings
- As per the Human Capital Index 2020, globally, a child born today can expect to achieve on average only 56 percent of his/her full productivity as a future worker. This is data before COVID-19.
- HCI is lower in poor countries than rich countries by a substantial margin.
- Poverty and low HCI are also related. The greater is poverty the lower is HCI score of a country.
- 80% of the world’s extreme poor people reside in countries with a HCI value below 0.5.
- As per Human Capital Index 2020, child survival rate in rich countries is 0.998 and 0.880 in poorest countries.
- HCI has also measured gender gaps in human capital and as per the report; the average HCI for girls is 0.59 which is slightly higher than that of boys- 0.56.
- Looking at the HCI scores, Singapore is the country with highest HCI score i.e. 0.88.
- Singapore is followed by Hong Kong with an HCI score of 0.81 which is followed by Japan with a HCI score of 0.80.
- Country with lowest HCI score on the index is Central African Republic (HCI score- 0.29).
India Specific Findings
- India falls under the category of countries with an HCI score between 0.40 and 0.50.
- The HCI score of India is 0.49.
- The average stunting rates came down in India by 13%. In HCI 2020, stunting rate in India is 35%; it was 48% in 2018.
Questions
Ques: 1. Who released Human Capital Index 2020?1. World Bank
2. UNICEF
3. UNESCO
4. Asian Development Bank
5. None of these
Answer- 1
Explanation-The Human Capital Index 2020 (HCI) has been released by the World Bank. The first edition of Human Capital Index was released in 2018. HCI 2020 covered 174 countries.
Ques: 2. How many countries have been included in the Human Capital Index 2020?
1. 157 countries
2. 158 countries
3. 174 countries
4. 181 countries
5. 144 countries
Answer- 3
Explanation- Human Capital Index 2020 covered 174 countries. 17 new countries have been added in the index as compared to 157 countries in 2018 index.
Read the complete list of reports and India's rank here
