India Halved its Poverty
Improved nutrition, better sanitation, and increased asset ownership have halved India’s poverty rate between 2005-06 and 2015-16, according to a study by Oxford University. In the 10-year period, 270 million Indians were pulled out of poverty in what is perhaps one of the most significant wins of the Indian economic story. In this period, per capita GDP grew from Rs 38,750 to Rs 88,746, and India became a lower middle-income economy. In absolute terms, the number of poor fell from 630 million to 360 million during this period. The decrease in poverty headcount has been driven mostly by an improvement in living standards, through better availability of material goods such as cooking fuel, sanitation facilities, and household assets.