India has made remarkable progress in reducing extreme poverty, with 269 million people moving out of it between 2011-12 and 2022-23. According to the latest World Bank data, extreme poverty rate dropped significantly from 27.1 percent in 2011-12 to just 5.3 percent in 2022-23.
In 2011-12, around 344.47 million people in India were living in extreme poverty. By 2022-23, that number fell sharply to 75.24 million.Much of this progress came from states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh, which together accounted for 65 percent of India’s extreme poor in 2011-12. These states contributed to two-thirds of the total poverty reduction over the past decade.
Using the earlier 2.15 Dollars per-day poverty line, based on 2017 prices, the poverty rate in India fell from 16.2 percent in 2011 to just 2.3 percent in 2022. This translates to a drop in the number of people living in extreme poverty from 205.93 million to 33.66 million. The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than 3.00 US Dollars per day, adjusted to 2021 prices.
The decline in poverty has been widespread across both rural and urban areas. Rural poverty decreased from 18.4 percent to 2.8 percent, while urban poverty fell from 10.7 percent to just 1.1 percent over the 11-year period.
India has also seen strong improvement in reducing multidimensional poverty, which includes factors such as health, education, and standard of living. The Multidimensional Poverty Index dropped from 53.8 percent in 2005-06 to 16.4 percent in 2019-21, and further down to 15.5 percent in 2022-23.
As the BJP-led NDA government marks 11 years in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted key initiatives like PM Awas Yojana, PM Ujjwala Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana, and Ayushman Bharat which led to decline in poverty rate. These schemes have expanded access to housing, clean cooking fuel, banking, and healthcare. Direct Benefit Transfers, digital inclusion, and improved rural infrastructure have helped deliver support efficiently and transparently, empowering more than 250 million people to rise out of poverty.
