India’s extreme poverty falls to 2.6% in 12 years: World Bank

India lifted an estimated 496 million people out of poverty between 2011 and 2023, bringing down the extreme poverty rate from 27.1% to 2.6%, according to the World Bank's October 2026 Poverty and Equity Brief.
The report described the achievement as "one of the fastest poverty declines in the world", pointing to significant improvements in both income-based and non-monetary measures of poverty.According to the World Bank, the share of India's population living below the lower-middle-income poverty threshold of USD 4.20 per day, measured at 2021 purchasing power parity (PPP), dropped from 57.7% in 2011 to 16.1% in 2023.The report attributed the decline largely to strong consumption growth, rising employment, particularly among women, and expanded social transfers, including food subsidies.
The World Bank expects poverty levels to decline further in the coming years, although at a slower rate. Its estimates indicate that the poverty rate at the USD 4.20-a-day threshold could decrease from 14.2% in 2026 to 12.1% by 2028.However, it cautioned that these projections are indicative, based on microsimulations, and may change as fresh labour market and macroeconomic data become available.
The report also highlighted considerable progress in addressing multidimensional poverty. According to the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative's Multidimensional Poverty Index, India's poverty rate fell from 53.8% in 2005-06 to 16.4% in 2019-21. The World Bank's multidimensional poverty measure stood at 15.5% in 2022-23.Despite the progress, the report pointed to persistent regional inequalities and employment-related concerns.
Around 57% of India's poor population remains concentrated in a contiguous belt stretching from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal, highlighting the need to create more productive employment opportunities in these states to sustain poverty reduction.Employment increased by approximately 134 million people between 2017 and 2023, nearly twice the growth in the working-age population. A significant share of this increase came from rural women joining paid employment.However, youth unemployment increased from 14.6% in the first quarter of FY26 to 15.9% in the corresponding quarter of FY27, with young women in rural areas particularly affected.The report further noted that real earnings remained largely unchanged, while employment growth was concentrated mainly in relatively low-productivity activities.
The World Bank also noted that poverty estimates are based on household consumption surveys and that some of the recent improvements could reflect changes in measurement methods alongside actual gains in household welfare.