Poverty in India declined 12.3 percentage points between 2011-2019: World Bank

Extreme poverty in India is 12.3 percentage points lower in 2019 as compared to 2011, says a World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. The poverty headcount rate has declined from 22.5 per cent in 2011 to 10.2 per cent in 2019.

According to policy research working paper of the World Bank, Poverty reduction was higher in rural areas as compared to urban India. Rural poverty dropped by 14.7 per cent from 26.3% in 2011 to 11.6% in 2019. Urban poverty declined by 7.9 percentage points from 14.2% to 6.3% from 2011 to 2019, said the World Bank's working paper titled 'Poverty has Declined over the last decade But Not As Much As Previously Thought'.

The working paper is jointly authored by economists Sutirtha Sinha Roy and Roy van der Weide. The World Bank policy research working papers aim to encourage the exchange of ideas on development and quickly disseminate the findings of research in progress.

According to the study, farmers with small landholding sizes have experienced higher income growth. Real incomes for farmers with the smallest landholdings have grown by 10 per cent in annualized terms between the two survey rounds in 2013 and 2019 compared to a 2 per cent growth for farmers with the largest landholding.

However, urban poverty rose by 2 percentage points in 2016, coinciding with the demonetisation event, and rural poverty rose by 10 basis points in 2019, coinciding with a slowdown in the economy. It also noted a moderation in consumption inequality, albeit at a slower rate.