The Global MPI 2018 shows that India has made remarkable progress

India has reduced its poverty rate drastically from 55% to 28% in ten years. 271 million people moved out of poverty between 2005/6 and 2015/16. While progress has been remarkable, the country still has the largest number of people living in multidimensional poverty in the world (364 million people).

If one considers the 364 million people who are MPI poor in 2015/16, 156 million (34.5%) are children. In fact, of all the poor people in India, just over one in four—27.1 percent—has not yet celebrated their tenth birthday. The good news is that multidimensional poverty among children under 10 has fallen the fastest. In 2005/6 there were 292 million poor children in India, so the latest figures represent a 47 percent decrease or a 136 million fewer children growing up in multidimensional poverty. When considering the durable and lifetime consequences of childhood deprivation, particularly in nutrition and schooling, this is a tremendously good sign for India’s future.

Find out more on India:

• The global MPI 2018 report, chapter 2: MPI in India, A Case Study
• Data Table: India disaggregation by district. Download
• Data Table: India, changes over time. Download
• Research Paper 54a: Multidimensional Poverty Reduction in India 2005/6–2015/16: Still a Long Way to Go but the Poorest Are Catching Up

More Resources:

• Global MPI 2018 Data tables and methodology
• A new Interactive Databank
• Country Briefings 
• More on the global MPI 2018 here