New Delhi, June 8: Nearly 270 million people in India moved out of extreme poverty between 2011-12 and 2022-23, the World Bank said, highlighting the country’s progress even as global poverty rose due to revised benchmarks.
India’s extreme poverty rate dropped sharply from 27.1% in 2011-12 to just 5.3% in 2022-23. In absolute terms, the number of people living in extreme poverty fell from 344.5 million to 75.2 million.
The data coincides with the World Bank’s decision to raise the International Poverty Line (IPL) from $2.15 per day (2017 PPP) to $3 per day (2021 PPP). The shift led to a global increase of 125 million in the number of people considered extremely poor. However, India emerged as a “statistical outlier” that reduced the global count by the same number, thanks to revised consumption data.
“The new poverty line would have increased the count of global extreme poverty by 226 million people. But thanks to India’s data revision, the net global increase was only 125 million — as India’s revised data reduced the count by 125 million on its own,” a government statement said.
India’s progress has been attributed in part to the adoption of the Modified Mixed Recall Period (MMRP) in its Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES), replacing the older Uniform Reference Period (URP). The updated method provided a more accurate measure of consumption, particularly for frequently purchased items, resulting in lower poverty estimates.
“India’s updated consumption data significantly influenced the World Bank’s global benchmark,” the government said. “Improved methods captured more actual spending, leading to a more realistic poverty line and a lower poverty rate despite the increase in threshold.”
According to the World Bank, under the older $2.15 line, India’s poverty rate stood at just 2.35% in 2022-23. The government said the reforms have also led to a narrowing of spending inequality across the country.
“Given India’s share of the global population, its methodological changes matter for the global poverty trends,” the World Bank noted.
Progress was especially strong in five large states — Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh — which previously accounted for 65% of India’s extremely poor population.
“India’s poverty decline is a story of technical refinement meeting policy results,” the government said, adding, “As the global community recalibrates poverty goals, India’s example sets a precedent: evidence-based governance, sustained reforms, and methodological integrity can together deliver transformational outcomes.”
