Report says extreme poverty in India below 1%

A report based on the most recent survey by the World Bank has claimed that extreme poverty has fallen to a negligible 1% in India. An analysis conducted by Surjit Bhalla, a former executive director of International Monetary Fund, and Karan Bhasin of the State University of New York, USA, covered data until July 2024. The international poverty line is now at US $2.15 a day at purchasing-power parity. And the analysed data reveals that all but less than 1% of Indian households now have risen above that line. This implies India has eliminated the most extreme forms of poverty. Bhalla and Bhasin said the last official survey incorporated into World Bank reports was for the year ending in June 2012. A 2018 survey was never officially released until June 2024. Then, the most recent survey that covers the period up to July 2024 was released in January 2025. It is the most recent survey that shows that only 1% of India’s households fell below the international poverty line in 2024. The analysts further say that the surveys followed same people over time to show that many were able to escape destitution without leaving agriculture. They explain that the very low $2.15 line demarcating poverty level can be crossed over from a modest improvement in landholdings, crop yields or higher rural wages due to migration in good numbers to cities. Bhalla and Bhasin also make the case that the lowest international poverty line of $2.15 has now outlived its use. In today’s context, it is irrelevant even in the case of India because the country has much scope to grow and develop. The analysts propose a new poverty line set high enough to capture the bottom quarter or third of the population.