27 crore Indians out of poverty in 11 years: WB

Around 27 crore people were lifted out of extreme poverty in India over the past 11 years from 2011 to 2023, says new data released by the World Bank (WB).

Extreme poverty rate declined from 27.1 per cent in 2011-12 to 5.3 per cent in 2022-23. While over 35 crore were living in extreme poverty in 2011, the numbers dropped to about 7.5 crore in 2022-23. The WB data attributed major progress in India’s position to improvements across UP, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and MP, which accounted for 65 per cent of India’s extremely poor people 11 years ago.

The data comes as the World Bank announced a major revision to global poverty estimates, raising the International Poverty Line (IPL) from $2.15/day (2017 purchasing power parity) to $3/day (2021 PPP).

While the change led to a global increase in the count of extreme poverty by 125 million, India emerged as a statistical outlier in a positive direction.

Using more refined data and updated survey methods, India withstood the raised threshold and demonstrated a massive reduction in poverty.

“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.

The new IPL reflects revised national poverty lines in low-income countries, improved measurement of consumption, particularly food and non-food items and integration of 2021 PPP estimates.

“India’s updated consumption data significantly influenced the World Bank’s global benchmark. Improved methods captured more actual spending, leading to a more realistic poverty line and a lower poverty rate despite the increase in threshold,” the government said.

India’s latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) adopted the Modified Mixed Recall Period (MMRP) method, replacing the outdated Uniform Reference Period (URP) and this shift used shorter recall periods for frequently purchased items. It also captured more realistic estimates of actual consumption.

“As a result, consumption recorded in national surveys rose, leading to a drop in poverty estimates — in 2011-12, applying MMRP reduced India’s poverty rate from 22.9 per cent to 16.22 per cent, even under the older $2.15 poverty line. In 2022-23, poverty under the new $3 line stood at 5.25 per cent, while under the older $2.15 line it dropped further to 2.35 per cent,” the government said, adding that India’s poverty decline is a story of technical refinement meeting policy results.

“In the face of a raised poverty benchmark, India showed that more honest data, not diluted standards, can reveal real progress. 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,” said officials.