Page updated on 24/08/2009

Although the Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades, its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas. India has a higher rate of malnutrition among children under the age of three (46% in year 2007) than any other country in the world.

Despite significant economic progress, 1/4 of the nations population earns less than the government-specified poverty threshold of $0.40/day. Official figures estimate that 27.5% of Indians lived below the national poverty line in 2004-2005. A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) found that 25% of Indians, or 236 million people, lived on less than 20 rupees per day with most working in 'informal labour sector with no job or social security, living in abject poverty.'

As of 2005, 85.7% of the population lives on less than $2.50 (PPP) a day, down from 92.5% in 1981.

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