Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Tuesday that India’s extreme poverty rate has fallen from 27.1% in 2011 to 2.6% in 2023, according to the World Bank’s October 2026 Poverty and Equity Brief— a decline that lifts 496 million people out of poverty over 12 years.
The brief also records that 49.6 crore Indians crossed the lower‑middle‑income threshold of $4.20 a day, cutting the national poverty rate from 57.7% to 16.1%. Employment surged by 13.4 crore between 2017 and 2023, with rural women driving the majority of gains as more households added earners.
"Under the leadership of Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi, the government’s sustained policy efforts are yielding tangible results, strengthening the foundations for inclusive growth and greater economic opportunity," said Sitharaman, stressing that the NDA administration remains committed to expanding productive employment and delivering public services more effectively.
A World Bank statement attributed the sharp fall in poverty to robust consumption growth, rising employment—particularly among women—and expanded social transfers such as food subsidies. The bank expects the poverty rate at the $4.20‑a‑day threshold to decline from 14.2% in 2026 to 12.1% by 2028, signaling a slower but steady pace of improvement.
The government will now focus on sustaining this trajectory by boosting household incomes and ensuring efficient delivery of welfare schemes, while the World Bank will continue to monitor progress in the next quarterly review.