In a landmark achievement under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has significantly reduced extreme poverty, according to the latest data from the World Bank.
The percentage of people living in extreme poverty in India fell to 5.3% in 2022-23, down sharply from 27.1% in 2011-12.
This translates to 75.24 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022-23, compared to 344.47 million a decade earlier—a reduction of over 269 million individuals.
States like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh, which previously accounted for 65% of India’s extreme poor, played a major role in this transformation, contributing to two-thirds of the national poverty reduction.
The World Bank used the $3.00 per day poverty line (adjusted to 2021 prices) to measure extreme poverty. At the older $2.15 per day threshold (2017 prices), India’s poverty rate declined from 16.2% in 2011-12 to just 2.3% in 2022-23. This means only 33.66 million people remained below the $2.15 mark in 2022, compared to 205.93 million in 2011.
The decline was widespread and inclusive, with rural poverty dropping from 18.4% to 2.8% and urban poverty reducing from 10.7% to 1.1% in the same period.
In addition to income-based poverty reduction, India has also excelled in cutting multidimensional poverty. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) dropped from 53.8% in 2005-06 to 15.5% in 2022-23, showcasing improvement across key indicators like health, education, and standard of living.
The government credits this success to flagship initiatives such as:
-
PM Awas Yojana (affordable housing),
-
PM Ujjwala Yojana (clean cooking fuel),
-
Jan Dhan Yojana (financial inclusion),
-
Ayushman Bharat (healthcare access), and
-
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and digital infrastructure ensuring last-mile delivery.
As the BJP-led NDA government completes 11 years in power, Prime Minister Modi emphasized the government’s focus on empowerment, inclusion, and infrastructure as central to this transformation. He stated that over 25 crore (250 million) people have been empowered to escape poverty thanks to transparent governance and targeted welfare.
India’s progress is now being held up as a global example of how structured policy, digital innovation, and social investment can dramatically improve the lives of millions.
