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World Bank: India lifts 496 million out of poverty

By Drooid · Oct 30, 2026 · How we work

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Summary

World Bank says India lifted an estimated 496 million people out of poverty between 2011 and 2023.
Extreme poverty fell to 2.6% in 2023 from 27.1% in 2011.
Share of people living below $4.20-a-day dropped to 16.1% in 2023 from 57.7% in 2011.
Employment rose by about 134 million jobs from 2017 to 2023, driven largely by rural women.

History

Facing a balance-of-payments crisis in 1991, Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh secured IMF and World Bank assistance and launched sweeping liberalisation that devalued the rupee, removed most licensing and opened sectors to foreign investment. Foreign investment surged from $132 million in 1991-92 to $5.3 billion by 1995-96, laying the foundation for today’s poverty-reduction gains.

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Facing a balance-of-payments crisis in 1991, Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh secured IMF and World Bank assistance and launched sweeping liberalisation that devalued the rupee, removed most licensing and opened sectors to foreign investment. Foreign investment surged from $132 million in 1991-92 to $5.3 billion by 1995-96, laying the foundation for today’s poverty-reduction gains.

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