Understanding the World Bank's Human Capital Index (HCI)

The Human Capital Index (HCI), developed by the World Bank, is a crucial tool used to measure the potential productivity of the next generation of workers. It quantifies the contribution of health and education to the productivity of workers. Essentially, it highlights how much human capital a child born today can expect to attain by age 18, given the risks of poor health and poor education that prevail in their country.

The index considers several key components:

• Survival: Probability of surviving to age 5.
• School: Expected years of schooling by age 18.
• Health: Stunting rates (as a measure of health environment) and adult survival rates.

These factors are combined to create a score between 0 and 1, where 1 represents the maximum possible human capital. A country's ranking is then determined based on this score.

India's Human Capital Index Rank in Feb 2019

The question asks about India's rank in the World Bank's Human Capital Index rankings specifically as of February 2019. The World Bank released its first Human Capital Index report in October 2018. This initial report provided rankings for 157 countries.

According to the data from the World Bank's Human Capital Index released in October 2018, which was the basis for rankings around February 2019, India's rank was 115 among the 157 countries evaluated. India's score in this report was 0.44. This score indicated that a child born in India in that period would achieve only 44% of the productivity they could achieve with complete education and full health.

Let's look at the options provided in the context of India's Human Capital Index ranking:

• 124: This was not India's rank in the 2018 HCI report.
• 115: This matches India's rank in the 2018 HCI report.
• 126: This was not India's rank in the 2018 HCI report.
• 104: This was not India's rank in the 2018 HCI report.

Therefore, India's rank in the World Bank's Human Capital Index rankings as of February 2019, based on the initial report, was 115.

Key Components of Human Capital Index

The Human Capital Index (HCI) calculation incorporates several indicators. A simplified overview is given below:

These indicators are combined to calculate the final HCI score, which then determines the rank.

Revision Table: World Bank Human Capital Index

Additional Information: Significance of Human Capital Index

The Human Capital Index (HCI) is important because it emphasizes the critical role of investments in health and education for economic growth and poverty reduction. Countries with higher HCI scores are generally expected to have more productive workforces in the future, leading to potentially higher economic prosperity.

India's ranking of 115 highlighted the challenges and the need for increased focus and investment in improving health and education outcomes for its population. Subsequent HCI reports have shown shifts in rankings and scores for various countries, reflecting changes in these fundamental areas.