New Delhi, November 9, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India’s significant reduction in poverty over the past decade, driven by economic growth, rising consumption, employment generation and social protection programmes, offers important lessons for developing countries, a report has said.
According to a recent World Bank brief, the proportion of Indians living in extreme poverty fell from 27.1 per cent in 2011 to 2.6 per cent in 2023.
A report by Bangladesh-based The Business Standard said India had lifted around 496 million people out of extreme poverty, describing the decline as among the fastest in the world.
The World Bank brief also indicated that, using the lower-middle-income poverty line of $4.20 per day, India’s poverty rate declined from 57.7 per cent to 16.1 per cent over the same period. However, the World Bank cautioned that some of the recent gains could reflect improvements in measurement alongside genuine improvements in welfare.
The report noted that poverty reduction had not been uniform across regions, with 57 per cent of India’s poor population concentrated in a contiguous belt stretching from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal.
Sustained economic growth was identified as a major factor behind the decline. India maintained resilient growth between 2010 and 2025, with the economy expanding by an average of more than 7 per cent annually during 2022-2025 after recovering from the pandemic-induced contraction.
Household spending nearly doubled from $1.24 trillion in 2015 to $2.24 trillion in 2025, supported by rising discretionary consumption and premiumisation trends.
Employment generation, particularly among women, also contributed to poverty reduction. The report said more than 17 crore jobs were created between 2014 and 2024, averaging 1.7 crore annually. It also noted that the unemployment rate declined from 7.6 per cent in 2015 to 4.2 per cent in 2025.
India’s social assistance programmes, supported by increased digitisation, women-focused welfare initiatives and agricultural and rural support, were also cited as important contributors to the reduction in poverty.
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