49.6 crore people came out of poverty in India between 2011 and 2023
Extreme poverty rate reached 2.6'
New Delhi (A.). India has made a major achievement on the economic and social front. The latest report of the World Bank has revealed that during the last 12 years, about 49.6 crore citizens of the country have come out of the clutches of poverty (People Emerging from Poverty). The proportion of the population living in extreme poverty has now fallen to just 2.6 percent. Apart from this, significant improvement has also been registered in multidimensional poverty indicators and general consumption. However, the report also expresses concern about regional inequalities and youth unemployment.
Historic decline in extreme poverty, huge improvement even on $4.20 income standard
According to the World Bank, in the year 2011, 27.1 percent of the country's population was living in extreme poverty (People Emerging from Poverty), which has reduced dramatically to 2.6 percent in 2023. At the same time, on the basis of purchasing power parity of 2021, the proportion of people earning less than $4.20 per day has also come down from 57.7 percent to 16.1 percent. The global financial institution has clarified that there has been a substantial improvement in the standard of living in India on both monetary and non-monetary scales.
Employment opportunities, women participation
The main reasons for this sharp decline in the poverty rate (People Emerging from Poverty) have also been analyzed in the report. The World Bank said that sustained growth in domestic consumption, creation of extensive employment opportunities and increase in work participation, especially of women, have played a decisive role in this. The expansion of social assistance schemes, free and subsidized food subsidies of the Central and State Governments has also provided great support to the lower class in lifting them out of poverty.
A huge decline was also recorded in the multidimensional poverty rate.
Apart from economic income, there has also been an unprecedented decline in multidimensional poverty related to living standards (People Emerging from Poverty). According to data from the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, the multidimensional poverty rate in India declined from 53.8 percent in 2005-06 to 16.4 percent in 2019-21. At the same time, according to the latest assessment of the World Bank's internal multidimensional poverty parameters, this rate has further reduced to 15.5 percent in the year 2022-23.
Large concentration of poor population from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal
Despite impressive progress at the national level, the report paints a grim picture of regional inequality. About 57 percent of India's total poor population is concentrated in the contiguous geographical corridor from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand to West Bengal. The World Bank believes that creating productive and high-value employment opportunities in these eastern and central states will be of paramount importance to completely eradicate poverty from the country.
13.4 crore new jobs added, but youth unemployment and low income still a challenge
Between 2017 and 2023, the number of employed people in the country increased by about 134 million, which was almost double the growth of the working age population. However, challenges remain regarding the quality of employment. The unemployment rate among youth increased from 14.6 percent to 15.9 percent between the first quarters of the financial year 2025-26 and 2026-27, the biggest impact of which was seen on rural young women. At the same time, there has not been a huge jump in real earnings since most of the new employment has been limited to low-productivity sectors.