India lifts 500 million people out of extreme poverty amid rising inequality

India lifted nearly 500 million people out of extreme poverty between 2011 and 2023, according to a World Bank report.

This shift saw the nation's extreme poverty rate drop from 27.1 percent to 2.6 percent in just 12 years. The report attributes this rapid progress to strong consumption growth, rising employment rates, particularly among women, and expanded social transfers such as food subsidies.

While the World Bank praised the speed of these improvements, the 2026 World Inequality Report noted that wealth and income gaps in India remain among the highest in the world. The top 10 percent of earners now capture about 58 percent of national income, while the bottom 50 percent receive only 15 percent. Economists suggest that structural issues like the caste system, unequal asset ownership, and insufficient public investment in education and healthcare continue to limit opportunities for disadvantaged groups.

Government actions under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, such as providing free food grains to 800 million people and expanding access to piped drinking water, contributed to these gains. However, some experts warned that these subsidies may only meet basic caloric needs rather than improving nutrition. They also noted that while extreme poverty fell, 233 million people still live below the lower middle-income threshold of $4.2 a day.