India now 4th most equal country in world, says World Bank report

The Indian government announced that India ranks as the fourth most equal country in the world, citing data from the World Bank’s Spring 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief. In a recent report, the government highlighted a significant improvement in India’s Gini score, which improved to 25.5 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23 from 28.8 in 2011-12.

Understanding the Gini Index:

• The Gini Index is a tool used to measure how equally income, wealth, or consumption is distributed among households or individuals within a country.
• Its value ranges from 0 to 100:
  • A score of 0 signifies perfect equality (everyone has the same).
  • A score of 100 signifies absolute inequality (one person has everything, others have nothing).
• Higher Gini Index indicates greater inequality.
• Graphically, the Gini Index can be explained by the Lorenz curve.

India’s Position in Global Equality:

• According to the report, India now falls into the ‘moderately low’ inequality category, which includes countries with Gini scores between 25 and 30.
• India is noted to be “only a fraction away” from joining the ‘low inequality’ group, which includes countries like the Slovak Republic (score of 24.1), Slovenia (24.3), and Belarus (24.4).

Government’s Role and Poverty Reduction:

The government attributes this significant improvement to a consistent policy focus on:

• Reducing poverty.
• Expanding financial access.
• Delivering welfare support directly to those most in need.

This sustained effort has resulted in a substantial reduction in poverty. The Spring 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief by the World Bank underscores this achievement as one of the most significant in recent years.

• The report indicates that 171 million Indians have been lifted out of extreme poverty over the past decade.
• The share of people living on less than $2.15 a day (the global threshold for extreme poverty until June 2025) fell sharply to 2.3% in FY23 from 16.2% in FY12.
• Under the World Bank’s revised extreme poverty threshold of $3.00 per day, the 2022-23 poverty rate would be adjusted to 5.3%.

Key Government Schemes Cited:

The government has listed several schemes as part of its focused initiatives to reduce inequality, including:

• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)
• Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)
• Ayushman Bharat
• Stand Up India
• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)
• Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman (PM-VIKAS)

(Source: BL)