National News

Extreme Poverty Decline: India

November 1 , 2026 1 hrs 0 min 30 0

The World Bank’s October 2026 Poverty and Equity Brief reported that India’s extreme poverty rate fell from 27.1% in 2011 to 2.6% in 2023.
Around 496 million people moved out of extreme poverty during this period.
At the lower-middle-income poverty line of USD 4.20 per day (2021 Purchasing Power Parity – PPP), poverty declined from 57.7% to 16.1%.
The decline was mainly linked to consumption growth, increased employment, particularly among women, and social transfers such as food subsidies.
Around 57% of India’s poor population is concentrated in a belt stretching from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal.
The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) declined from 53.8% in 2005–06 to 16.4% in 2019–21, according to the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).