India, in Infographics: People & Planet
About 500 Million Indians Moved Above $4.20 A Day Since 2011-12; Extreme Poverty Fell From 27.1% To 2.6%
India’s Population By Daily Consumption Per Person At Each World Bank Survey Since 1977-78, In 2021 Dollars At Purchasing Power Parity. Pick Any Poverty Line From $1.50 To $12 A Day And The Chart Redraws.
People By Band Splits Each Survey’s Population By Daily Consumption Per Person. Share Below A Line Lets You Pick Any Line From $1.50 To $12 A Day: The Bars And The Summary Use The World Bank’s Own Estimate At That Line. Hover Or Tap A Survey For Its Numbers. Dollars Are 2021 Dollars At Purchasing Power Parity.
Rose Above $4.20
499 Million
2011-12 To 2023-24; The Brief Says 496 Million
Extreme Poverty, Under $3
27.1% → 2.6%
344 Million To 37 Million
Still Under $8.30
1.16 Billion
80.0% Of Indians In 2023-24
Of The Poor, In One Belt
57%
States From Uttar Pradesh To West Bengal (World Bank)
The Bottom Line
On The World Bank’s Numbers, The Share Of Indians Below $4.20 A Day Fell By 41.6 Points Between 2011-12 And 2023-24, More Than The 25.2 Points It Fell Over The 34 Years Of Surveys Before. Extreme Poverty, Below $3, Is Down To 2.6%. Part Of The Latest Fall Reflects A Better Survey, And 80.0% Of Indians Still Consume Under $8.30 A Day.
What The Data Shows
The Biggest Fall Came After 2011-12
Below $4.20, The Count Peaked At 853 Million In 2004-05 And Was 733 Million In 2011-12. By 2023-24 It Was 233 Million, 16.1% Of Indians: About 499 Million Fewer, While The Population Grew By 176 Million.
Extreme Poverty Is Now Small
At $3 A Day, 2.6% Of Indians, 37 Million People, Were Below The Line In 2023-24, Against 27.1% In 2011-12 And 59.7% In 1977-78.
Who Is Still Poor
At $4.20 In 2023-24, 19.3% Of Rural Indians Were Poor Against 8.6% In Towns And Cities; 21.8% Of Children Under 15; 21.3% Of Adults With No Schooling Against 7.4% Of Those With College Education. About 57% Of The Poor Live In The Belt From Uttar Pradesh To West Bengal.
Most Indians Are Still Below $8.30
At The Upper-Middle-Income Line, 80.0% Of Indians, 1.16 Billion People, Consumed Less In 2023-24, Down From 92.5% In 2011-12. Average Daily Consumption Per Person Rose From $4.64 To $6.65.
Read With Care
Better Measurement, Too
The 2022-23 And 2023-24 Household Consumption Expenditure Surveys Changed The Questionnaire. The World Bank Calls The Surveys Broadly Comparable But Says The Large Gain Between 2022-23 And 2023-24 Likely Reflects Both Real Gains And Better Measurement, And That The Surveys May Miss Some Spending Of Wealthier Households.
A Twelve-Year Gap
No National Consumption Survey Was Published Between 2011-12 And 2022-23; The Government Withheld The 2017-18 Results, Citing Data Quality. The Line Marking 26 May 2014 Shows When The Modi Government Took Office; The Surveys Cannot Show The Path Within The Gap.
Rural And Urban Shares
The World Bank Notes That The Survey Weights Rest On The 2011 Census, So The Rural Share Is Probably Overstated. Its Brief Also Pairs 2023-24 Rates With 2022-23 Headcounts In One Table; This Page Uses The World Bank’s Database, Where Both Come From The Same Year.
Sources & Method
Data
World Bank Poverty And Inequality Platform, 2021 PPP, Fetched 30 October 2026: Share Of The Population Below Each Line At Every Indian Survey In Its Series, With Population And Mean Consumption. Groups, The Belt Of States And The 496 Million: World Bank, India Poverty & Equity Brief, October 2026.
Lines
$3.00 A Day Is The International (Extreme) Poverty Line; $4.20 And $8.30 Are The Lines For Lower-Middle And Upper-Middle-Income Countries. All Are Per Person, In 2021 Dollars At Purchasing Power Parity.
Counts
People Below A Line = Share × The Platform’s Population. That Gives 499 Million Above $4.20 Between 2011-12 And 2023-24; The Brief’s 496 Million Uses World Development Indicators Population. The Survey Years Shown As 2022-23 And 2023-24 Are 2022 And 2023 In The World Bank’s Tables.
Data: World Bank, Poverty And Inequality Platform · World Bank, Poverty & Equity Briefs.
