Extreme poverty dips in India from 27.1% to 5.3%, fall in absolute number 270 mn: World Bank

India’s extreme poverty rate fell sharply from 27.1 per cent in 2011-12 to 5.3 per cent in 2022-23, according to new World Bank estimates. This means about 269 million people rose above the international poverty line over 11 years.

The number of people living in extreme poverty dropped from 344.47 million to 75.24 million, based on the $3.00 per day poverty line (in 2021 PPP terms).

Five states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh – had the highest number of poor in 2011-12, and together they contributed to nearly two-thirds of the poverty reduction by 2022-23.

The World Bank reports that rural extreme poverty in India fell from 18.4 per cent to 2.8 per cent, while urban extreme poverty dropped from 10.7 per cent to 1.1 per cent over the same period.

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Using the earlier $2.15 per day poverty line (based on 2017 prices), the extreme poverty rate fell from 16.2 per cent in 2011-12 to 2.3 per cent in 2022. In absolute numbers, the population living below this line decreased from 205.93 million to 33.66 million.

The World Bank data also showed progress in multidimensional poverty. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was at 53.8 per cent in 2005-06. It fell to 16.4 per cent in 2019-21 and further to 15.5 per cent in 2022-23.