World Bank Report: India's Poverty Rate Falls to 16.1%

India's poverty rate has fallen sharply over the past decade, according to a World Bank Group report cited by Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

The findings come from the 'October 2026 Poverty and Equity Brief', which Goyal said confirms that India has achieved one of the fastest and broadest poverty reductions in modern history.

The report shows that between 2011 and 2023, 49.6 crore people moved above the lower-middle-income poverty line. The national poverty rate declined from 57.7 per cent to 16.1 per cent during the period.

Goyal said the progress was driven by targeted policies, structural reforms and strong governance under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a post on X, he noted that using the 3 dollars per day (2021 PPP) standard, extreme poverty dropped from 27.1 per cent to 2.6 per cent.

Employment growth has been equally notable. Total employment grew by 13.4 crore between 2017 and 2023, which is almost twice the growth in the working-age population.

Rural women played a central role in this transition, according to Goyal. Their entry into wage-earning jobs increased the number of earning members per household and raised family incomes. The minister also said welfare gains had reached both rural and urban India, with rural areas making rapid progress in narrowing historical inequality.

Electricity now reaches 99 per cent of the population, helping to make basic living standards more accessible.

The World Bank says the outcomes reflect robust consumption, women-led employment and broad social transfers, including targeted food security and direct benefits to beneficiaries.

Goyal described good governance as something measured by public trust and said the transformation underpins continued public confidence in the NDA and Prime Minister Modi. He reaffirmed the government's commitment to 140 crore Indians and pledged to expand development opportunities and build a self-reliant, developed India.