Comparing 75 years of growth and development
The Hindu
As India celebrates its 75th year of independence, we look at the nation’s growth compared to other countries, across several development indicators
India celebrates 75 years of independence this August 15. While independence marked a dramatic departure from the past and ushered in a new era of growth, opportunity, democratic rule and freedom, India was not the only region or country undergoing extreme change then. Several other Southeast Asian and African nations were also fighting for freedom from colonial rule or had become newly independent. Meanwhile, the West was recovering from the aftermath of World War II, which had left colonisers in a state of disarray.
India has made remarkable progress over the past 75 years. But where does it stand when compared to other countries who had become independent in the same time period under similar circumstances, and when compared to developed nations? The Data Point analysed India’s performance on several indicators with the following countries, based on data from The World Bank and Our World in Data: BRICS (Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa), G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States), emerging economies (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates) and the Indian subcontinent (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka).
Newly independent India had an extremely poor life expectancy rate and a high infant mortality rate. Metalled roads were few and far between, and access to electricity was a luxury for most. Although India continues to be the world’s second-most populated country, it has made major strides in healthcare, infrastructure and technology since then. All three are now accessible to a significant proportion of the population. India’s infant mortality rate (death of an infant before his or her first birthday per 1,000 live births) declined from 161.8 in 1960 to 27 in 2020. While only 50% of households had access to electricity in the 1990s, the gap has practically closed now. And in 2020, over 40% of Indians were online.
However, some former colonies have managed to outrun India. Click on the links at the end of each indicator to see the actual data plotted on a chart.
HDI: Human Development Index
HDI measures three key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, as measured by life expectancy at birth; knowledge, as measured by mean years of schooling and expected years of schooling; and a decent standard of living, as measured by Gross National Income per capita in PPP terms in US$. It is measured on a scale of 0-1, with 1 showing the highest HDI possible. India’s HDI increased by 0.11 points in 1950 to 0.65 in 2019. Of the 31 countries we analysed for this indicator, India was ranked 26 in 1950, but climbed down two positions to 28 by 2019. Of the five countries which lagged behind India in 1950, two—Saudi Arabia and Indonesia—moved ahead by 2019, with scores of 0.85 and 0.72 respectively.
See the data viz for 1950, and 2019.