Poverty and Equity Brief

Published on 13 Oct 2025

• The World Bank released its biannual Poverty and Equity Brief.

• The briefs are released twice a year for the Spring and Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund.

• These indicators cover various aspects of poverty using World Bank's international poverty lines - $2.15 per day for extreme poverty, $3.65 for lower-middle-income, and $6.85 for upper-middle-income.

              Key Findings (India):

• The proportion of Indian people living in extreme poverty fell sharply from 16.2% in 2011-12 to just 2.3% in 2022-23.

• In Rural areas, extreme poverty fell from 18.4% in 2011-12 to 2.8% in 2022-23.

• In Urban centres, extreme poverty reduced from 10.7% to 1.1% over the same period.

• The gap between rural and urban poverty shrunk from 7.7% points to 1.7% points, with an annual decline rate of 16% between 2011-12 and 2022-23..

• The five most populous states i.e. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh, represented 65% of India’s extreme poor in 2011-12.

• By 2022-23, these states contributed to two-thirds of the overall decline in extreme poverty.

• Non-Monetary Poverty, as measured by the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which considers factors like education, health, and living conditions, declined from 53.8% in 2005-06 to 16.4% by 2019-21.

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Keywords:

Poverty and Equity Brief Poverty Equity World Bank WB IMF International Monetary Fund Non-Monetary Poverty Multidimensional Poverty Index MPI Hunger Health