A study by the United Nations Development Program and the University of Oxford shows that the percentage of poor people in India fell from 55.1 percent of the population in 2005 to 16.4 percent in 2020.
This means that 415 million Indians no longer live in poverty. That is about the same number of people living in the entire EU.
“It is a massive reduction. Both for India and for the world at large. It shows that there is reason for hope," says Sabina Alkire, professor at the University of Oxford and one of the researchers behind the study.
The study looks at ten different areas and poverty is made up of how well a population fares in these areas compared to a standard value. It concerns areas such as child mortality, school attendance, access to food, water, housing, etc.
The reduction in poverty in India is due to a variety of measures. Everything from increased electrification and subsidized food to better childcare and free school lunches.
The improvement was greatest in the poorest province in India, Bihar. There, the percentage of poor people fell from 77.4 percent in 2005 to 34.7 percent in 2020.
