Extreme poverty in India down to 5.3% in 2022-23: World Bank

World Bank reports India's poverty reduction success, lifting 171 million from extreme poverty, with a 5.3% rate in 2022-23.

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India’s extreme poverty rate declined sharply to 5.3% over a decade from 27.1% in 2011-12, even as the World Bank revised upwards its threshold poverty line to $3 per day.

Given India’s inflation rate between 2017 and 2021, a revised extreme poverty line of $3 would constitute a 15% higher threshold than $2.15 expressed in 2021 prices and result in a 5.3% poverty rate in 2022-23, the World Bank said in a report.

In India, the report said, 54,695,832 people lived on less than $3 per day in 2024. Thus, the poverty rate at $3 per day (2021 PPP - percentage population) is 5.44% in 2024.

The extreme poverty rate decreased from 16.2 to 2.3% between 2011-12 and 2022-23, while the poverty rate at the lower middle-income country (LMIC) line declined by 33.7 percentage points, it said.

Free and subsidised food transfers supported poverty reduction, and the rural-urban poverty gap narrowed. The five most populous states account for 54% of the extremely poor, it said.

With regard to economy, the report said, real GDP of India was around 5% below the pre-pandemic trend level as of FY25.