India made ‘remarkable progress’ in reducing poverty: World Bank

A view of the World Bank. File

India has over the last decade made “remarkable progress” in reducing poverty across both monetary and non-monetary dimensions, the World Bank said in a new report, adding the country saw one of the fastest reductions in poverty in the world.

“Between 2011 and 2023, the share of the population living below the Lower Middle-Income Country line ($4.2/day) fell from 57.7% to 16.1%, lifting an estimated 496 million people out of poverty, while extreme poverty ($3.00/day) declined from 27.1% to 2.6%,” the World Bank said in its October 2026 Poverty and Equity Brief for India released on Friday (October 30, 2026).

Further, it said it projected poverty to continue declining, “albeit more gradually”, with the poverty rate as measured according to the $4.20/day line expected to fall from 14.2% in 2026 to 12.1% by 2028.

“On the non-monetary dimensions, as measured by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative’s (OPHI) Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), poverty fell sharply from 53.8% in 2005-06 to 16.4% in 2019-21, with the World Bank MPI measure at 15.5% in 2022-23,” the World Bank said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman welcomed the findings and, in a social media post, highlighted the various positive aspects the data revealed.

“The World Bank identifies strong consumption growth, rising employment — especially among women — and expanded social transfers, including food subsidies, as major drivers,” Ms. Sitharaman said.

“Under the leadership of Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi, the Government’s sustained policy efforts are yielding tangible results, strengthening the foundations for inclusive growth and greater economic opportunity,” she added.

The World Bank's October 2026 Poverty & Equity Brief records India's progress as one of the fastest poverty declines in the world. The report highlights several significant gains: ✅ 49.6 crore people moved above the lower-middle-income poverty line of $4.20 a day between 2011 and 2023, with the poverty rate declining from 57.7% to 16.1%. ✅ Extreme poverty declined from 27.1% to 2.6% over the same period, measured at $3 a day. Both monetary poverty thresholds use 2021 purchasing power parity. ✅ Employment increased by 13.4 crore people between 2017 and 2023, nearly twice the increase in the working-age population. ✅ Rural women accounted for much of the employment gain, entering paid work and increasing the number of earners in their households. ✅ Both rural and urban households experienced substantial welfare gains, with faster progress in rural India narrowing the rural–urban gap. ✅ Access to electricity reached 99% of the population, according to the report's 2022 survey data. The World Bank identifies strong consumption growth, rising employment - especially among women—and expanded social transfers, including food subsidies, as major drivers. Under the leadership of Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodi, the Government's sustained policy efforts are yielding tangible results, strengthening the foundations for inclusive growth and greater economic opportunity. This is the reason why NDA govt wins people's trust and mandate of our citizens. We remain committed to building on this progress through productive employment, stronger household incomes and effective delivery of public services, so that aspirations of our people are met.

The World Bank report further said that as poverty declined, it became concentrated among households with lower education, fewer assets, limited access to stable employment, and higher dependency ratios.

“Wage disparities, however, remain pronounced, as median earnings among the top 10% of workers were about 13 times those of the bottom 10% in 2023,” the report said.

“Poverty has also become increasingly concentrated geographically,” it added. “While living standards improved across most States, households in a contiguous belt stretching from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal account for about 57% of India’s poor population.”

The report further noted that, between 2017 and 2023, employment increased by about 134 million people, nearly twice the growth of the working-age population, with much of the gain driven by rural women entering paid work and raising the number of earners per household.

“However, youth unemployment rose from 14.6% to 15.9% between the two quarters [Q1 FY2026 and Q1 FY2027], particularly among rural young women,” the World Bank highlighted. “Moreover, real earnings remained broadly unchanged with employment growth concentrated in relatively low-productivity activities.”

economy, business and finance / business (general)