Gender Development Index
The Gender Development Index (GDI) is a UNDP composite that measures gender gaps in human development by computing the Human Development Index separately for women and men and expressing the female value as a ratio of the male value. First introduced as the Gender-related Development Index in the 1995 Human Development Report and redesigned in 2014, it covers the same three dimensions as the HDI — a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living — and reports how far female human development falls short of, or exceeds, male human development.
Read the full method
Sign in with a free account to read this section.
Method map
The neighbourhood of related methods — select a node to explore.
Sources
- United Nations Development Programme (2014). Human Development Report 2014 — Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience (Technical Note on the Gender Development Index). UNDP. link ↗
- Klugman, J., Rodríguez, F., & Choi, H.-J. (2011). The HDI 2010: New controversies, old critiques. The Journal of Economic Inequality, 9(2), 249–288. DOI: 10.1007/s10888-011-9178-z ↗
- United Nations Development Programme (1995). Human Development Report 1995 — Gender and Human Development. Oxford University Press / UNDP. link ↗
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 22). Gender Development Index (GDI). ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/gender-studies/gender-development-index
Which method?
Set this method beside its closest kin and read them side by side — the library lays the books on the table; the choice is yours.
- Gender Empowerment MeasureGender Studies↔ compare
- Gender Inequality IndexGender Studies↔ compare
- Global Gender Gap IndexGender Studies↔ compare
- Human Development IndexDevelopment Studies↔ compare