India lifted 496 million people out of extreme poverty since 2011
While extreme poverty fell to 2.6 per cent in 2023, challenges like hunger and wage inequality remain, according to Telangana Today.
India has seen a significant decrease in poverty levels over the last decade, with an estimated 496 million people moving out of extreme poverty between 2011 and 2023, according to the World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Brief 2026 reported by Telangana Today.
The proportion of the population living in extreme poverty dropped from 27.1 per cent in 2011 to 2.6 per cent in 2023. At the lower-middle-income threshold of $4.20 per day, the figure fell from 57.7 per cent to 16.1 per cent during the same period.
Despite this progress, India ranked 100th out of 122 countries in the 2026 Global Hunger Index. Child stunting is at 29.3 per cent for children under five, while wasting stands at 19 per cent.
Economic disparities persist, as the World Inequality Lab 2024 shows the top 1 per cent of the population controls more than 40 per cent of national wealth. In 2023, median earnings for the top 10 per cent of workers were approximately 13 times higher than those of the bottom 10 per cent.
Employment remains a concern, with youth unemployment at 13.3 per cent generally and 29 per cent among graduates. Only 31 per cent of women are engaged in paid work, and only 23 per cent of non-farm paid work is formal.
The World Bank projects that poverty at the $4.20-a-day threshold could decrease from 14.2 per cent in 2026 to 12.1 per cent by 2028.