World Bank: 49.6 Crore Indians Exit Poverty Since 2011

A World Bank report has highlighted a dramatic reduction in poverty across India, noting that around 49.6 crore people have moved out of poverty between 2011 and 2023. The country is among the fastest performers globally in reducing poverty over this period.

The share of people living on less than 4.2 dollars per day in 2021 PPP terms declined from 57.7 per cent in 2011 to 16.1 per cent in 2023. Those living in extreme poverty, below 3.00 dollars a day, fell from 27.1 per cent to 2.6 per cent.

Strong consumption growth, expanding employment, especially among women, and a broader system of social transfers, including food subsidies, were identified as the principal reasons behind the progress.

The pace of poverty reduction is expected to slow but continue. The World Bank projects that the share of people below the 4.20 dollar poverty line will decrease from 14.2 per cent in 2026 to 12.1 per cent by 2028.

As the number of poor people fell, poverty became more concentrated among those with lower education, fewer assets, limited access to stable employment and greater dependency burdens. Wage inequality, meanwhile, remains substantial. In 2023, median earnings of the top 10 per cent of workers were nearly 13 times those of the bottom 10 per cent.

Employment expanded by about 13.4 crore between 2017 and 2023, almost twice the rise in the working-age population. A large share of this growth came from rural women taking up paid work, which increased the number of earners in each family.