Overview
- The World Bank’s October 2026 Poverty and Equity Brief says measured extreme poverty in India fell from 27.1% in 2011–12 to 2.6% in 2023–24 and estimates roughly 496 million people rose above the $4.20‑a‑day line.
- The Bank itself warns its numbers may not be strictly comparable because India’s consumption survey design changed between 2011–12 and 2022–24, shifting from single‑visit questionnaires to multi‑visit interviews and a new sampling approach.
- Those measurement questions matter because alternate thresholds still show large numbers in hardship: about 35 million are below the $3‑a‑day extreme line and roughly 232 million are under $4.20 a day, with most poor people living in rural areas.
- Observed consumption gains match real improvements in public services and transfers such as expanded foodgrain rations, housing schemes, toilet and water access, LPG connections and financial inclusion, which likely boosted household spending without necessarily raising stable earnings.
- Researchers and commentators are calling for a bridge survey that measures consumption under both old and new methods, better pay and employment‑quality data, and policies that create productive jobs to test whether consumption gains will last.