World Bank Endorses PM Modi's Claim of Reducing Poverty in India

Extreme poverty (living on less than USD 2.15 per day) fell from 16.2 percent in 2011-12 to 2.3 percent in 2022-23, lifting 171 million people in India above this line, according to a report by the World Bank.

- TDG NETWORK

This, in a way, is an endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's poverty reduction claims.

Over the past decade, India has significantly reduced poverty.

According to the Poverty & Equity Brief report of the World Bank released earlier this week, rural extreme poverty dropped from 18.4 percent to 2.8 percent, and urban from 10.7 percent to 1.1 percent, narrowing the rural-urban gap from 7.7 to 1.7 percentage points—a 16 percent annual decline.

Meanwhile, India also transitioned into the lower-middle-income category.

Using the USD 3.65 per day lower-middle income category poverty line, poverty fell from 61.8 percent to 28.1 percent, lifting 378 million people out of poverty.