13.5 Crore Indians Move Out Of Poverty In 5 Years, Uttar Pradesh Sees Biggest Drop: NITI Aayog Report

India lifted 13.5 crore people out of poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21, according to NITI Aayog's National Multidimensional Poverty Index.

The number of persons living in multidimensional poverty fell from 24.85% to 14.96% of the country's population during the period, the report estimated. Rural poverty witnessed the fastest decline from 32.6% to 19.3%, while it declined from 8.6% to 5.2% in urban areas.

Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, saw the largest decline with 3.4 crore people moving out of poverty, followed by Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan.

The report, based on the latest National Family Health Survey, represented India's work and progress in reducing multidimensional poverty.

The United Nations Development Programme and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative estimated that India lifted 415 million (41.5 crore) citizens above the poverty line 15 years from 2005-2006 to 2019-2021, according to the report published last week.