India lifted 496 million people out of poverty between 2011 and 2023, says World Bank

New Delhi: India lifted an estimated 496 million people out of poverty between 2011 and 2023, with the share of the population living below the poverty line falling sharply to 16.1% from 57.7%, according to the World Bank.

The multilateral lender described this as one of the "fastest poverty declines in the world". The figures are based on the World Bank's lower-middle-income poverty line of $4.20 per person per day in 2021 purchasing power parity terms. Extreme poverty also reduced significantly, with the share of people living on less than $3 a day falling to 2.6% in 2023 from 27.1% in 2011, the World Bank said in its October 2026 Poverty and Equity Brief.

Going ahead, the World Bank expects poverty in India to decline further albeit at a slower pace. It projected the poverty rate at the $4.20 per day line to fall to 12.1% by 2028 from 14.2% in 2026. "These indicative microsimulation-based projections will be updated as labour market and macroeconomic data are revised or new data becomes available," it said.


Inequality has also declined, with the Gini coefficient for consumption expenditure falling to 23 in 2023 from 28.78 in 2011. The index, which ranges from 0 (perfect equality) to 100 (perfect inequality), measures the extent of inequality in consumption distribution. Despite the gains, income disparities remain. In 2023, the top 10% of workers earned a median income about 13 times higher than those at the bottom 10%, the World Bank pointed out.

Non-monetary indicators of deprivation have also improved substantially. Multidimensional poverty declined to 16.4% in 2019-21 from 53.8% in 2005-06. The World Bank's Multidimensional Poverty Index stood at 15.5% in 2022-23. This improvement was driven primarily by robust consumption growth, rising employment, particularly among women, and the expansion of social transfers, including food subsidies, said the World Bank.

Lower poverty levels led to deprivation becoming increasingly concentrated among households with lower educational attainment, fewer assets, limited access to stable employment and higher dependency ratios.

Regional gaps persist

Both rural and urban households recorded improvements in living standards, with faster progress in rural areas helping narrow the welfare gap with urban. However, a large share of those remaining in poverty continue to live in rural India, where productivity levels are lower and access to better-quality non-farm employment remains limited.

Poverty has also become increasingly concentrated in specific geographical areas. While living standards improved across most states, households in a contiguous belt stretching from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal accounted for around 57% of India's poor population, the World Bank said.