The World Bank’s latest Poverty and Equity Brief (October 2026) shows how far India has come since 2011:

49.6 crore people moved above the lower-middle-income poverty line of $4.20 a day between 2011 and 2023, with the poverty rate declining from 57.7% to 16.1%.

Extreme poverty declined from 27.1% to 2.6% over the same period, measured at $3 a day. Both monetary poverty thresholds use 2021 purchasing power parity.

Employment increased by 13.4 crore people between 2017 and 2023, nearly twice the increase in the working-age population.

Rural women accounted for much of the employment gain, entering paid work and increasing the number of earners in their households.

Both rural and urban households experienced substantial welfare gains, with faster progress in rural India narrowing the rural–urban gap.

Access to electricity reached 99% of the population, according to the report’s 2022 survey data.