India removed 171 million people from extreme poverty between 2011-12 and 2022-23: World Bank

New Delhi: According to the World Bank’s latest “poverty and equity brief”, India has successfully removed 171 million people from extreme poverty in the decade from 2011-12 to 2022-23.
The report suggests that extreme poverty, which has been defined as a USD to be less than 2.15 per day, fell from 16.2% in 2011-12 to 2.3% in 2022-23. This significant reduction mark the success of the country in pulling 171 million people from the extreme poverty line.
“In the last decade, India has significantly reduced poverty. Extreme poverty (staying less than $ 2.15 per day) fell from 16.2 percent in 2011-12 to 2.3 percent in 2022-23, lifting 171 million people from this line. Rural extreme poverty declined from 18.4 percent to 2.8 percent, and urban from 10.7 percent to 1.1 percent, causing the rural-urban difference to be narrowed from 7.7 to 1.7 percentage points-one 16 percent annual decline.“The World Bank report states.
“India also infection in the lower-medium-age category. Using the LMIC poverty line per day, poverty fell from 61.8 percent to 28.1 percent, dropped 378 million people out of poverty. Rural poverty dropped from 69 percent to 32.5 percent, and declined from 43.5 percent to 17.2 percent to 17.2 percent.” Added to the report.

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The World Bank also noted that rural extreme poverty declined from 18.4% to 2.8%, and urban extreme poverty declined from 10.7% to 1.1%. The gap between rural and urban poverty compressed from 7.7 to 1.7 percent, which shows an annual decline of 16%.
Poverty level in India on separate poverty lines for 2022

In its evaluation, the World Bank further observed that India infection in the low-medium-age category. Using the poverty line for lower-medium-income countries (LMIC), the poverty fell from 61.8% to 28.1%, causing 378 million people out of poverty. Rural poverty fell from 69% to 32.5%, and urban poverty rose from 43.5% to 17.2%, leaving the rural-urban interval from 25 to 15% points, with 7% annual decline.
Brief also said that the five-populated state-of-the-most population state, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh-In 2011-12, accounts for 65% of the country’s extreme poor. These states were responsible for two-thirds of excessive poverty reduction by 2022-23. However, by 2022-23, these states still had 54% of India’s highly poor and its multi-dimensional poor had 51% of the poor population.
The World Bank’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which measures non-modern poverty, saw a decline of 16.4% from 53.8% to 2019-21 in 2005-06.
Regarding employment, the World Bank mentioned that employment growth had left the working population since 2021-22, especially with employment rates among women, growing. Urban unemployment in Q1 FY24/25 fell to 6.6%, the lowest after 2017-18. Data indicated an innings of male workers from rural to male workers for the first time since 2018-19, while rural women’s employment has increased in agriculture.
Despite these reforms, challenges remain. The report said that the youth unemployment is 13.3%, with the rate of tertiary education graduates to 29%. Only 23% of non-form payment jobs are formal, and most of the agricultural employment is informal. In addition, while self-employment is increasing, especially between rural workers and women, gender inequalities persist, 234 million more men in the work paid compared to women.
Poverty and equity briefs of the World Bank provide valuable insight into the trends of poverty, shared prosperity and inequality in more than 100 developing countries. These briefs are released twice a year and serve as a major resource to understand the efforts to reduce poverty globally.