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Indexes and reports — index ↔ publisher

⏱ 4 min read🧩 6 question types🎯 14 practice Q

The idea in one minute

Index questions mostly ask who publishes an index. Publishers stay the same, while ranks change every edition. Split the publishers into UN bodies, the World Economic Forum, NGOs and Indian bodies. The Global Hunger Index comes from two NGOs, not the UN.

The publisher is the question

Most index questions ask which body releases which index. India's rank changes with every edition. The publisher does not.

Example: "Global Hunger Index, released by UNDP" is false. Two NGOs publish it.

So learn the publishers first. Note a rank only for the current edition.

Indexes from UN bodies

Index	Publisher	Note
Human Development Index (HDI)	UNDP	Inside the Human Development Report; health, education, income; since 1990
World Happiness Report	UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)	Released in March
Global SDG Index	UN SDSN	Tracks the 17 SDGs
Global Innovation Index	WIPO, Geneva	Innovation inputs and outputs
World Economic Outlook; Global Financial Stability Report	IMF	Flagship reports
Human Capital Index	World Bank	Part of the Human Capital Project

World Economic Forum reports

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is known for its Davos meeting. It publishes three reports asked in exams:

Global Gender Gap Report
Global Risks Report
Travel and Tourism Development Index

The WEF has paused its Global Competitiveness Report.

Indexes from NGOs and other bodies

Index	Publisher
Corruption Perceptions Index	Transparency International, Berlin
Global Peace Index	Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), Sydney
Global Hunger Index	Concern Worldwide (Ireland) and Welthungerhilfe (Germany)
World Press Freedom Index	Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Henley Passport Index	Henley and Partners
World Competitiveness Index	IMD, Lausanne
Environmental Performance Index	Yale and Columbia universities
Democracy Index; Global Liveability Index	Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)

In the Corruption Perceptions Index, a higher score means a cleaner country. The Henley index measures visa-free access. Press Freedom links to World Press Freedom Day on 3 May.

Watch: The Global Hunger Index is the classic trap. Any UN body in the options is wrong.

India's own indexes

NITI Aayog: SDG India Index, India Innovation Index (with the Institute for Competitiveness), Composite Water Management Index, national Multidimensional Poverty Index.
RBI: Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) and its Handbook of Statistics.
MoSPI: CPI, IIP and household consumption surveys.
Pratham (an NGO): ASER, the Annual Status of Education Report, on rural schooling.
Department of Economic Affairs: the Economic Survey.

Tip: SDG India Index is NITI Aayog. The global SDG Index is UN SDSN.

Indexes that ended or changed

The World Bank discontinued its Ease of Doing Business ranking in 2021, after a review of data irregularities. Its successor is Business Ready (B-READY), first released in 2024.

A question on a retired index usually asks who stopped it and when.

How to answer

Match the publisher first. Wrong options often name the wrong UN body.
Sort the body: UN, WEF, NGO or Indian.
Check any rank against the current edition only.

Question types you will see

Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.

Type 1very common4 practice Q

Index and its UN publisher

How to spot it:

'The Human Development Index is released by', 'which body publishes the Global Innovation Index'.

Method

Recall the UN pins: HDI UNDP, Happiness SDSN, Innovation WIPO.
Add WEO IMF and Human Capital World Bank.
Reject options that move an index to another UN body.
Remember the HDI appears inside the Human Development Report.

Why it works:

Wrong options usually swap one UN body for another, so exact pairs matter.

Try this

The Global Innovation Index is released by which organisation?

Show solution

Innovation is linked to intellectual property.
The UN body for that is WIPO, based in Geneva.
UNDP and the WEF are the usual wrong options.

Answer

WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)

Type 2very common4 practice Q

Index and its non-UN publisher

How to spot it:

'The Global Hunger Index is released by', 'the Corruption Perceptions Index comes from'.

Method

Recall Hunger: Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
Recall Corruption: Transparency International; Peace: IEP; Press: RSF.
Recall Democracy and Liveability: EIU; EPI: Yale and Columbia; Competitiveness: IMD.
If a UN body appears for an NGO index, reject it.

Why it works:

These bodies are not UN agencies, which is exactly what the options test.

Try this

The Global Hunger Index is published by which of the following?

Show solution

Hunger is an NGO index.
Concern Worldwide is from Ireland.
Welthungerhilfe is from Germany.

Answer

Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe

Type 3common3 practice Q

Indian indexes and their publishers

How to spot it:

'The SDG India Index is released by', 'ASER is published by', 'the FI-Index is compiled by'.

Method

NITI Aayog: SDG India, India Innovation, Water Management, national MPI.
RBI: FI-Index. MoSPI: CPI and IIP.
Pratham: ASER. Department of Economic Affairs: Economic Survey.

Why it works:

Indian indexes come from a short list of bodies, each with its own area.

Try this

The SDG India Index is released by which body?

Show solution

It ranks states and UTs on the 17 SDGs.
The global SDG Index is UN SDSN.
The Indian version comes from the government think tank.

Answer

NITI Aayog

Type 4common3 practice Q

Discontinued and replaced indexes

How to spot it:

'The Ease of Doing Business index was replaced by', or a statement about a stopped report.

Method

Doing Business: stopped by the World Bank in 2021.
Its successor: Business Ready (B-READY), first released in 2024.
WEF: Global Competitiveness Report paused.
Check who stopped it and when.

Why it works:

Retired indexes test the publisher and the year.

Try this

In which year did the World Bank discontinue its Ease of Doing Business rankings?

Show solution

A review found data irregularities.
The World Bank stopped the ranking.
B-READY followed from 2024.

Answer

2021

Type 5common

World Economic Forum reports

How to spot it:

'The Global Gender Gap Report is released by', 'Global Risks Report is published by'.

Method

Recall the WEF trio: Gender Gap, Global Risks, Travel and Tourism.
If the index is one of these, choose the WEF.
Do not give Gender Gap to a UN body.

Why it works:

Three reports share one publisher, so one list answers them all.

Try this

The Global Risks Report is published by which organisation?

Show solution

Global Risks is in the WEF trio.
The other two are Gender Gap and Travel and Tourism.

Answer

World Economic Forum (WEF)

Type 6occasional

What an index measures

How to spot it:

'In the Corruption Perceptions Index, a higher score means', 'the HDI is based on', 'the Henley index ranks'.

Method

HDI: health, education and income.
Corruption Perceptions Index: higher score means cleaner.
Henley Passport Index: visa-free access.
Global SDG Index and SDG India Index: the 17 SDGs.

Why it works:

A few indexes are asked for what they measure, not who publishes them.

Try this

The Human Development Index is built on which three areas?

Show solution

UNDP publishes the HDI.
It combines a long life, learning and living standard.
Those map to health, education and income.

Answer

Health, education and income

Shortcuts that save time

⚡ UN or NGO

UN bodies: UNDP (HDI), SDSN (Happiness), WIPO (Innovation), IMF (WEO). NGOs: Concern and Welthungerhilfe (Hunger), IEP (Peace), RSF (Press), Pratham (ASER), TI (Corruption).

Example

Who publishes the Global Hunger Index?

Show solution

Hunger sits on the NGO side.
Two NGOs publish it together.
Any UN body in the options is wrong.

Answer

Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe

⚡ WEF trio

Gender Gap, Global Risks, Travel and Tourism: three WEF reports. If an option says WEF for one of these, it is right.

Example

The Global Gender Gap Report is released by whom?

Show solution

Gender Gap is one of the WEF trio.

Answer

World Economic Forum

Mistakes to avoid

Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.

Mistake 01

Giving the Global Hunger Index to a UN body.

Two NGOs publish it: Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.

Mistake 02

Giving the HDI to the World Bank.

The HDI is UNDP's, inside the Human Development Report.

Mistake 03

Quoting last year's rank as current.

Ranks change every edition. Check the current one; publishers do not change.

Mistake 04

Mixing the SDG India Index with the global SDG Index.

SDG India Index is NITI Aayog. The global one is UN SDSN.

Mistake 05

Treating Ease of Doing Business as a live ranking.

The World Bank stopped it in 2021. B-READY replaced it from 2024.

Mistake 06

Reading a higher Corruption Perceptions Index score as more corrupt.

A higher score means cleaner.

Quick revision

Read this the night before the exam.

HDI: UNDP. Happiness and global SDG Index: UN SDSN. Innovation: WIPO.
World Economic Outlook: IMF. Human Capital Index: World Bank.
WEF trio: Gender Gap, Global Risks, Travel and Tourism.
Corruption: Transparency International (Berlin). Peace: IEP. Press Freedom: RSF.
Hunger: Concern Worldwide + Welthungerhilfe (NGOs, not UN).
EPI: Yale + Columbia. Competitiveness: IMD. Democracy, Liveability: EIU.
SDG India and India Innovation Index: NITI Aayog. FI-Index: RBI. ASER: Pratham.
Doing Business ended 2021; B-READY from 2024.

Practice: 14 questions

Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.

Topic test · 10 questions

Suggested time 4 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.

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