PM Modi cites World Bank report on India's extreme poverty decline
Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that 49.6 crore people moved out of poverty between 2011 and 2023, according to The Hindu.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has praised a World Bank report stating that India has achieved one of the quickest reductions in poverty globally. In an Instagram post, the Prime Minister described the significant decrease in poverty as a generational increase in opportunities.
According to The Hindu, the Prime Minister noted that 49.6 crore individuals transitioned out of poverty between 2011 and 2023. This caused the extreme poverty rate to fall by 90 per cent, moving from more than one in four Indians to approximately one in 38.
The Prime Minister also stated that employment increased by 13.4 crore in a six-year period, which he said was nearly double the growth of India's working-age population. He further mentioned that the Gini Index, used to measure economic inequality, fell by more than 20 per cent to 23.0.
The World Bank report, titled ‘India Poverty and Equity Brief: October 2026’, shows that India's extreme poverty rate went from 27.1 per cent in 2011 to 2.6 per cent in 2023. These figures are based on an extreme poverty line of $3 per day and a lower-middle-income threshold of $4.20 per day, using 2021 purchasing power parity.
Modi used the song ‘Thaan Liya’ from the film ‘Dasvi’ in his social media post. He also remarked that his government's commitment to eradicating poverty goes beyond the decades-old ‘Garibi Hatao’ campaign used by the Congress.