INDIA’S POVERTY LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMED: WORLD BANK REPORT RECORDS EXTREME POVERTY FALL TO 2.6 PER CENT
October 30, 2026
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 30, 2026: India has recorded a substantial decline in extreme poverty over the past decade, with the World Bank reporting that the proportion of the population living below the extreme poverty threshold fell from 27.1 per cent in 2011 to 2.6 per cent in 2023. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman welcomed the findings and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and the government's policy initiatives for the progress.
According to the World Bank's India Poverty and Equity Brief: October 2026, approximately 496 million people moved above the lower-middle-income-country poverty threshold of US$4.20 per day between 2011 and 2023. The proportion of Indians living below this threshold declined from 57.7 per cent to 16.1 per cent. The extreme poverty threshold was calculated at US$3 per day, using 2021 purchasing power parity (PPP).
The World Bank attributed the improvement primarily to stronger consumption growth, expanding employment opportunities, particularly among women, and increased social transfers, including food subsidies. Employment reportedly increased by approximately 134 million people between 2017 and 2023, with rural women accounting for a substantial share of the growth.
Sitharaman described the findings as evidence of the government's sustained policy efforts, arguing that economic progress and improved public-service delivery had strengthened the foundations of inclusive development.
However, the report also highlighted persistent structural challenges. Income inequality remains pronounced, with median earnings among the highest-earning 10 per cent of workers approximately 13 times those of the lowest-earning 10 per cent in 2023. Youth unemployment also increased from 14.6 per cent to 15.9 per cent between the first quarters of FY2026 and FY2027, while real earnings remained broadly unchanged.
Geographical disparities represent another significant concern. States across a contiguous belt extending from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal account for approximately 57 per cent of India's remaining poor population. Rural households continue to face comparatively limited access to productive employment and higher-quality non-farm economic opportunities.
The World Bank projects that poverty under the US$4.20 threshold could decline further, from 14.2 per cent in 2026 to 12.1 per cent by 2028, although these projections remain subject to revisions as new economic and labour-market data become available.
The findings therefore present two dimensions of India's economic development: substantial progress in reducing measured poverty and continuing challenges involving wage inequality, employment quality, youth unemployment and regional disparities.
