BharatNotes What is Absolute Poverty?
Absolute poverty refers to a state in which an individual cannot afford the minimum basket of goods and services — food, clothing, shelter, safe drinking water, sanitation, health and education — necessary for physical subsistence and human dignity. It is measured against a fixed poverty line, so a person is poor if consumption falls below that threshold regardless of how others in society live. This distinguishes it from relative poverty, which measures deprivation in comparison with the average living standard of a society and is more common in developed-country analysis.
How is it Measured?
Globally, the World Bank measures absolute (extreme) poverty using the International Poverty Line (IPL). In June 2025, the IPL was raised to $3.00 per person per day at 2021 purchasing power parity (PPP), replacing the $2.15 (2017 PPP) line, following new PPP data from the International Comparison Program (2024). Companion lines were set at $4.20/day for lower-middle-income countries and $8.30/day for upper-middle-income countries.
| Benchmark | Threshold | Headcount estimate |
|---|---|---|
| World Bank IPL (June 2025) | $3.00/day, 2021 PPP | ~838 million globally in extreme poverty (2022); ~808 million, i.e. ~9.9%, projected for 2025 |
| Tendulkar Committee (2009) | ~Rs 27/day rural, ~Rs 33/day urban (2011-12 prices) | 21.9% of Indians poor (2011-12) |
| Rangarajan Committee (2014) | Rs 972 rural / Rs 1,407 urban monthly per capita expenditure (2011-12) | 29.5% of Indians poor (2011-12) |
In India, absolute poverty was traditionally anchored in minimum calorie norms, later broadened by the Tendulkar and Rangarajan committees to consumption-expenditure baskets. India has not officially adopted a new poverty line since the Rangarajan report.
Current Status in India
According to the World Bank's updated estimates (June 2025), extreme poverty in India fell from 27.1% in 2011-12 to 5.3% in 2022-23 under the new $3.00/day line — about 269 million people moved out of extreme poverty over eleven years. Rural extreme poverty declined from 18.4% to 2.8%, and urban from 10.7% to 1.1% over the same period. Complementing income-based measures, NITI Aayog's discussion paper (January 2024) estimated that 24.82 crore people exited multidimensional poverty between 2013-14 and 2022-23, with the multidimensional headcount ratio falling from 29.17% to 11.28%.
Significance and UPSC Angle
Absolute poverty measurement drives the targeting of flagship programmes such as the National Food Security Act, MGNREGA and PM Awas Yojana, and tracks India's progress on SDG Target 1.1 (ending extreme poverty by 2030). For the examination, this is a foundational concept — it underpins Prelims questions on poverty lines, estimation committees and World Bank/PPP terminology, and Mains questions (GS2: poverty and hunger; GS3: inclusive growth) on whether consumption-based absolute measures adequately capture deprivation compared with multidimensional indices. Aspirants should be able to contrast absolute, relative and multidimensional poverty, and critically discuss India's measurement debate alongside the latest verified data.
