India lifted 170 million out of poverty in a decade: World Bank

Time of India

25-04-2025

New Delhi: India made strides in poverty reduction, lifting 170 million (17 crore) people out of poverty between 2011-12 and 2022-23, a new
World Bank report
said. The proportion of people living in extreme poverty, those living on less than $2.15 a day, declined to 2.3% in 2022-23 from 16.2% in 2011-12.
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On Friday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted the feat on social media and noted that employment growth has outpaced working-age population. Rural areas recorded a higher decline in poverty than urban areas. The extreme poverty rate in rural areas fell to 2.8% in 2022-23 from 18.4% in 2011-12, while urban areas saw a reduction to 1.1% from 10.7% during the same period, according to the 'Poverty and Equity Brief' by the World Bank.
Five states-Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh-accounted for 65% of India's extreme poor in 2011-12. These states were also responsible for two-third of the poverty reduction by 2022-23 and now represent 54% of those living in extreme poverty.
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The poverty estimates are based on the Consumption Expenditure Survey 2011-12 and the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2022-23. While the latest survey includes improvements in questionnaire design, survey implementation, and sampling, the World Bank cautioned that these changes pose challenges for making comparisons over time. It also noted underestimation of consumption inequality due to sampling and data limitations. India's Gini Index, which measures consumption-based inequality, fell to 25.5 in 2022-23 from 28.8 in 2011-12, marking an improvement.
However, the Bank warned that this may not fully reflect reality due to data limitations.
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In contrast, the World Inequality Database reported a rise in income inequality, with the Index increasing to 62 in 2023 from 52 in 2004. "Wage disparity remains high, with the median earnings of the top 10 %being 13 times higher than the bottom 10% in 2023-24," the Bank mentioned.
On a positive note, employment has grown faster than the working-age population since 2021-22, according to the World Bank. The data shows a shift in the workforce: more male workers are moving from rural to urban areas, while female employment in rural agriculture is rising, it added.