India's Impressive Poverty Decline: A Decade of Progress

India's poverty levels have significantly decreased over the last decade, with extreme poverty falling from 16.2% to 2.3%. According to a World Bank report, this achievement has lifted millions out of poverty, endorsing PM Modi's poverty reduction efforts. The rural-urban poverty gap also narrowed substantially.

India has witnessed a dramatic reduction in poverty levels over the past decade, as substantiated by a recent World Bank report that highlights a fall in extreme poverty from 16.2% in 2011-12 to 2.3% in 2022-23. This significant decline sees 171 million Indians lifted above the extreme poverty line, aligning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reputed poverty reduction claims.

The report also sheds light on the progress made in rural and urban areas, where extreme poverty has plunged from 18.4% to 2.8% in rural sectors and 10.7% to 1.1% in urban areas. Consequently, the rural-urban poverty gap has tightened from 7.7 to 1.7 percentage points.

As the nation transitions into the lower-middle-income category, the broader lower-middle-income poverty measure of USD 3.65 per day shows a drop from 61.8% to 28.1%. This substantial progress has lifted 378 million Indians out of poverty, with a notable decrease in rural poverty levels from 69% to 32.5%, and in urban areas from 43.5% to 17.2%.

(With inputs from agencies.)