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India Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data was reported at 9.800 % in 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 10.000 % for 2020. India Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data is updated yearly, averaging 6.200 % from Dec 1977 (Median) to 2021, with 14 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 10.300 % in 2019 and a record low of 5.100 % in 2004. India Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s India – Table IN.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2017 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries, medians are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).
The estimated per capita income across Sikkim was the highest among Indian states at around *** thousand Indian rupees in the financial year 2024. Meanwhile, it was the lowest in the northern state of Bihar at over ** thousand rupees. India’s youngest state, Telangana stood in the fifth place. The country's average per capita income that year was an estimated *** thousand rupees. What is per capita income? Per capita income is a measure of the average income earned per person in a given area in a certain period. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. If absolute numbers are noted, India’s per capita income doubled from the financial year 2015 to 2023. Wealth inequality However, as per economists, the increase in the per capita income of a country does not always reflect an increase in the income of the entire population. Wealth distribution in India remains highly skewed. The average income hides the disbursal and inequality in a society. Especially in a society like India where the top one percent owned over ** percent of the total wealth in 2022.
In the financial year 2021, a majority of Indian households fell under the aspirers category, earning between ******* and ******* Indian rupees a year. On the other hand, about ***** percent of households that same year, accounted for the rich, earning over * million rupees annually. The middle class more than doubled that year compared to ** percent in financial year 2005. Middle-class income group and the COVID-19 pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic specifically during the lockdown in March 2020, loss of incomes hit the entire household income spectrum. However, research showed the severest affected groups were the upper middle- and middle-class income brackets. In addition, unemployment rates were rampant nationwide that further lead to a dismally low GDP. Despite job recoveries over the last few months, improvement in incomes were insignificant. Economic inequality While India maybe one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it is also one of the most vulnerable and severely afflicted economies in terms of economic inequality. The vast discrepancy between the rich and poor has been prominent since the last ***** decades. The rich continue to grow richer at a faster pace while the impoverished struggle more than ever before to earn a minimum wage. The widening gaps in the economic structure affect women and children the most. This is a call for reinforcement in in the country’s social structure that emphasizes access to quality education and universal healthcare services.
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Data and insights on Wealth Distribution in India - share of wealth, average wealth, HNIs, wealth inequality GINI, and comparison with global peers.
In 2022, the majority of Indian adults had a wealth of 10,000 U.S. dollars or less. On the other hand, about *** percent were worth more than *********** dollars that year. India The Republic of India is one of the world’s largest and most economically powerful states. India gained independence from Great Britain on August 15, 1947, after having been under their power for 200 years. With a population of about *** billion people, it was the second most populous country in the world. Of that *** billion, about **** million lived in New Delhi, the capital. Wealth inequality India suffers from extreme income inequality. It is estimated that the top 10 percent of the population holds ** percent of the national wealth. Billionaire fortune has increase sporadically in the last years whereas minimum wages have remain stunted.
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Key information about Russia Household Income per Capita
As of 2022, the top 10 percent Indian population group in terms of pre-tax income was estimated to hold over ** percent of total income in India, whereas the bottom ** percent group only made up just over ** percent of total income. This reflected an even greater income gap compared to 2000.
Objective of the consumer expenditure survey (CES): Firstly, as an indicator of level of living, monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) is both simple and universally applicable. Average MPCE of any sub-population of the country (any region or population group) is a single number that summarises the level of living of that population. It is supplemented by the distribution of MPCE, which highlights the differences in level of living of the different parts of the population. More detailed analysis of the distribution of MPCE reveals the proportion and absolute numbers of the poor with respect to a given poverty line. A welfare state has to take note of these numbers in allocating its resources among sectors, regions, and socio-economic groups. The distribution of MPCE can also be used to measure the level of inequality, or the degree to which consumer expenditure is concentrated in a small proportion of households or persons, and this can be done without any predetermined poverty line or welfare norms.
If socialism was the ideal of the 1950's, the ideal of policy-makers during the last decade was "inclusive growth". Increasingly, inclusive growth is seen as the all-important target that we should aim at, at least for the immediate future. Not surprisingly, the NSS CES is being used by scholars as a searchlight focused on the country's development process that shows up just how inclusive the country's growth has been.
Since the data is collected not only on consumption level but also on the pattern of consumption, the CES has another important use. To work out consumer price indices (CPIs) which measure the general rise in consumer prices, one needs to know not only the price rise for each commodity group but also the budget shares of different commodity groups (used as weights). The budget shares as revealed by the NSS CES are being used for a long time to prepare what is called the weighing diagram for official compilation of CPIs. More extensive use of NSS CES data is planned to have a weighing diagram that uses a finer commodity classification, to prepare rural and urban CPIs separately for each State.
Apart from these major uses of the CES, the food (quantity) consumption data are used to study the level of nutrition of different regions, and disparities therein. Further, the budget shares of a commodity at different MPCE levels are used by economists and market researchers to determine the elasticity (responsiveness) of demand to income increases.
Two types of Schedule 1.0 viz. Schedule Type 1 and Schedule Type 2 was canvassed in this round. Schedule Type 1 and Type 2 are similar to those of NSS 66th round.
Reference period and schedule type: The reference period is the period of time to which the information collected relates. In NSS surveys, the reference period often varies from item to item. Data collected with different reference periods are known to exhibit certain systematic differences. Strictly speaking, therefore, comparisons should be made only among estimates based on data collected with identical reference period systems. In the 68th round - as in the 66th round -two schedule types have been drawn up. The two schedule types differonly in respect of reference period. Sample households were divided into two sets: Schedule Type 1 was canvassed in one set and Schedule Type 2 in the other.
Schedule Type 1 uses the same reference period system as Schedule Type 1 of NSS 66th round. Schedule Type 1 requires that for certain items (Clothing, bedding, footwear, education, medical (institutional), durable goods), the same household should report data for two reference periods - 'Last 30 days' and 'Last 365 days'. Schedule Type 2 has the same reference periods as Schedule Type 2 of NSS 66th round. For Group I items (Clothing, bedding, footwear, education, medical (institutional), durable goods), the reference period used in Schedule Type 2 is 'Last 365 days'.
As in the 66th round, items of food, pan, tobacco and intoxicants (Food-plus category) are split into 2 blocks - 5.1 and 5.2 - instead of being placed in a single block. • Block 5.1 consists of the item groups cereals, pulses, milk and milk products, sugar and salt. This block has a reference period of 30 days in both Schedule Type 1 and Schedule Type 2. • Block 5.2 consists of the other items of food, along with pan, tobacco and intoxicants. This block is assigned a reference period of 'Last 30 days' in Schedule Type 1 and a reference period of 'Last 7 days' in Schedule Type 2.
Thus Schedule Type 1, like Schedule 1.0 of NSS 66th round, uses the 'Last 30 days' reference period for all items of food, and for pan, tobacco and intoxicants.
The survey covers the whole of the Indian Union except (i) interior villages of Nagaland situated beyond five kilometres of the bus route and (ii) villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands which remain inaccessible throughout the year.
Sample survey data [ssd]
Sample design
Outline of sample design: A stratified multi-stage design has been adopted for the 68th round survey. The first stage units (FSU) are the 2001 census villages (Panchayat wards in case of Kerala) in the rural sector and Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks in the urban sector. The ultimate stage units (USU) are households in both the sectors. In case of large FSUs, one intermediate stage of sampling is the selection of two hamlet-groups (hgs)/ sub-blocks (sbs) from each rural/ urban FSU.
Sampling Frame for First Stage Units: For the rural sector, the list of 2001 census villages (henceforth the term 'village' would include also Panchayat wards for Kerala) constitutes the sampling frame. For the urban sector, the list of UFS blocks (2007-12) is considered as the sampling frame.
Stratification: Within each district of a State/ UT, generally speaking, two basic strata have been formed: i) rural stratum comprising of all rural areas of the district and (ii) urban stratum comprising of all the urban areas of the district. However, within the urban areas of a district, if there are one or more towns with population 10 lakhs or more as per population census 2001 in a district, each of them forms a separate basic stratum and the remaining urban areas of the district are considered as another basic stratum.
Sub-stratification: Rural sector r: If 'r' be the sample size allocated for a rural stratum, the number of sub-strata formed would be 'r/4'. The villages within a district as per frame were first arranged in ascending order of population. Then sub-strata 1 to 'r/4' have been demarcated in such a way that each sub-stratum comprised a group of villages of the arranged frame and have more or less equal population. Urban sector: If 'u' be the sample size for an urban stratum, 'u/4' number of sub-strata have been formed. In case u/4 is more than 1, implying formation of 2 or more sub-strata, this is done by first arranging the towns in ascending order of total number of households in the town as per UFS phase 2007-12 and then arranging the IV units of each town and blocks within each IV unit in ascending order of their numbers. From this arranged frame of UFS blocks of all the towns/million plus city of a stratum, 'u/4' number of sub- strata formed in such a way that each sub-stratum has more or less equal number of households as per UFS 2007-12.
Total sample size (FSUs): 12784 FSUs have been allocated for the central sample at all-India level and 14772 FSUs have been allocated for state sample.
Allocation of total sample to States and UTs: The total number of sample FSUs has allocated to the States and UTs in proportion to population as per census 2001 subject to a minimum sample allocation to each State/ UT. While doing so, the resource availability in terms of number of field investigators has been kept in view.
Allocation of State/ UT level sample to rural and urban sectors: State/ UT level sample size has been allocated between two sectors in proportion to population as per census 2001 with double weightage to urban sector. However, if such weighted allocation resulted in too high sample size for the urban sector, the allocation for bigger states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, etc. was restricted to that of the rural sector. A minimum of 16 FSUs (minimum 8 each for rural and urban sector separately) is allocated to each state/ UT.
Allocation to strata/ sub-strata: Within each sector of a State/ UT, the respective sample size has been allocated to the different strata/ sub-strata in proportion to the population as per census 2001. Allocations at stratum level are adjusted to multiples of 4 with a minimum sample size of 4. Allocation for each sub-stratum is 4. Equal number of samples has been allocated among the four sub-rounds.
Selection of FSUs: For the rural sector, from each stratum/ sub-stratum, required number of sample villages has been selected by probability proportional to size with replacement (PPSWR), size being the population of the village as per Census 2001. For the urban sector, UFS 2007-12 phase has been used for all towns and cities and FSUs have been selected from each stratum/sub-stratum by using Simple Random Sampling Without Replacement (SRSWOR). Both rural and urban samples are to be drawn in the form of two independent sub-samples and equal number of samples have been allocated among the four sub rounds.
Selection of hamlet-groups/ sub-blocks - important steps
Criterion for hamlet-group/ sub-block formation: After identification of the boundaries of the FSU, it is first determined whether listing is to be done in the whole sample FSU or not. In case the population of the selected FSU is found to be 1200 or more, it has to be divided into a suitable number (say, D) of 'hamlet-groups' in the rural
In the financial year 2021, the number of super-rich households earning more than ** million Indian rupees went up to **** million from **** million in the financial year 2016. This was an annual growth of **** percent. The number is expected to grow to over **** million in the financial year 2031 and ** million households in the financial year 2047. This will be the fastest growth across all income categories. On the other hand, destitute classified Indian households with earnings of less than *** thousand annually decreased only marginally to ***** million in financial year 2021 from **** million in 2016. However, it is estimated that the number of destitute households will fall to just *** million by the financial year 2047.
In 2019, the agricultural households in rural India earned an average monthly income of over ** thousand Indian rupees. This was an increase in the average monthly income of farmers from 2013 when the households earned **** thousand rupees.
According to 2021 Forbes data, the richest man in India is business magnate Mukesh Ambani with a net worth of about 84.5 billion U.S. dollars.
Wealth distribution in India
India’s wealth is very unevenly distributed, with the wealthiest one percent of inhabitants owning more than half of the wealth. Currently, the majority of Indians own less than 10,000 U.S. dollars in wealth and assets and over 80 percent of Indian households have an average monthly income of 20,000 Indian rupees (about 286 U.S. dollars) or less – and even less in rural areas. Poverty is among the most common worries of Indian people and a prevalent problem in the country, despite a growing economy.
India’s growing economy benefits many, but not all
Most Indians live in rural areas, where agriculture is still the main provider. In fact, agriculture was an important economic driver for a long time, until services gained traction (and now generates almost half of India’s GDP). Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest entrepreneur, is one of the beneficiaries of this development, since his company, Reliance Industries, owns businesses mostly in the services sector.
In 2022, ****** was home to the highest number of millionaires, followed by India’s capital New Delhi, and the IT capital - Bengaluru. This comes as no surprise since all three cities have the largest share of high net worth households along with a booming economic outlook. Overall, India had around *** billionaires as of March 2023, and ranked third globally in terms of its ultra-net-worth individuals. A growing wealth gap Despite this, India also has a very high wealth inequality with millions of people living below the poverty line. In fact, according to the last census, the state of Maharashtra (with Mumbai as its capital city) had the highest number of slums across the country with over *** million households. Furthermore, according to a 2015 study on the geography of the super-rich, Bangalore was ranked first in terms of the inequality between its rich and poor, with the wealth of the city’s billionaires being ******* times that of the average per capita GDP in the city. Mumbai came second in this listing, while Delhi was ranked fifth. It's a rich man's world As of 2018, the richest ** percent of Indians owned **** percent of the country’s wealth. The Indian economy was also seen to be one of the fastest growing economies across the world. This indicates the level of unequal distribution of wealth in the country. This is a matter of grave concern and has several implications in terms of the country’s development and progress.
19 of the 20 countries with the lowest estimated GDP per capita in the world in 2024 are located in Sub-Saharan Africa. South Sudan is believed to have a GDP per capita of just 351.02 U.S. dollars - for reference, Luxembourg has the highest GDP per capita in the world, at almost 130,000 U.S. dollars, which is around 400 times larger than that of Burundi (U.S. GDP per capita is over 250 times higher than Burundi's). Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa Many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa have been among the most impoverished in the world for over a century, due to lacking nutritional and sanitation infrastructures, persistent conflict, and political instability. These issues are also being exacerbated by climate change, where African nations are some of the most vulnerable in the world, as well as the population boom that will place over the 21st century. Of course, the entire population of Sub-Saharan Africa does not live in poverty, and countries in the southern part of the continent, as well as oil-producing states around the Gulf of Guinea, do have some pockets of significant wealth (especially in urban areas). However, while GDP per capita may be higher in these countries, wealth distribution is often very skewed, and GDP per capita figures are not representative of average living standards across the population. Outside of Africa Yemen is the only country outside of Africa to feature on the list, due to decades of civil war and instability. Yemen lags very far behind some of its neighboring Arab states, some of whom rank among the richest in the world due to their much larger energy sectors. Additionally, the IMF does not make estimates for Afghanistan, which would also likely feature on this list.
In 2024, India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was around **** percent, the highest in South Asia. In contrast, Nepal reported the lowest real GDP growth rate in the region at approximately **** percent that year, but it was forecasted to increase to **** percent in 2026.Economy in South Asia In general, South Asia encompasses Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Bhutan. In 2020, India had a GDP of over *** trillion U.S. dollars, while Bangladesh and Sri Lanka followed. The Maldives and Bhutan were among the countries with the lowest GDP in the Asia-Pacific region. In South Asia, the main economic activities include the services sector as well as the industrial and manufacturing sectors.Society in South AsiaFrom the South Asian countries, Bangladesh had the highest share of people living below the poverty line. The Maldives and Sri Lanka exhibited the highest and second-highest GDP per capita among the South Asian countries in 2021.
In 2025, Luxembourg was the country with the highest gross domestic product per capita in the world. Of the 20 listed countries, 13 are in Europe and five are in Asia, alongside the U.S. and Australia. There are no African or Latin American countries among the top 20. Correlation with high living standards While GDP is a useful indicator for measuring the size or strength of an economy, GDP per capita is much more reflective of living standards. For example, when compared to life expectancy or indices such as the Human Development Index or the World Happiness Report, there is a strong overlap - 14 of the 20 countries on this list are also ranked among the 20 happiest countries in 2024, and all 20 have "very high" HDIs. Misleading metrics? GDP per capita figures, however, can be misleading, and to paint a fuller picture of a country's living standards then one must look at multiple metrics. GDP per capita figures can be skewed by inequalities in wealth distribution, and in countries such as those in the Middle East, a relatively large share of the population lives in poverty while a smaller number live affluent lifestyles.
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India Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data was reported at 9.800 % in 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 10.000 % for 2020. India Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data is updated yearly, averaging 6.200 % from Dec 1977 (Median) to 2021, with 14 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 10.300 % in 2019 and a record low of 5.100 % in 2004. India Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s India – Table IN.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2017 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries, medians are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).