Poverty and living standards in Delhi, India: official figures
3.4% of people in Delhi were multidimensionally poor in 2019-21, down from 4.4% in 2015-16, by NITI Aayog's national index (all-India: 14.96%). That counts people deprived in health, schooling and living standards such as cooking fuel, sanitation, housing and bank accounts; 8th lowest of 36.
How many people in Delhi have left poverty?
Applied to the official population projections, that means about 710,000 people in Delhi were poor in 2021, against about 835,000 in 2016: roughly 125,000 fewer in five years.
Source: Reserve Bank of India · saved copyHow deep is poverty in Delhi?
Poor people in Delhi were on average deprived in 42.0% of the weighted indicators in 2019-21 (the intensity of poverty), compared with 43.9% in 2015-16; the all-India figure was 44.4%.
Source: Reserve Bank of India · saved copyHow many people in Delhi are saving for a pension?
111,229 people in Delhi joined the Atal Pension Yojana, the government-backed pension for workers without a formal pension, in 2024-25; 46% of them were women. That is 5.1 new members per 1,000 residents.
Source: Reserve Bank of India · saved copyMore figures
- Combining how many are poor and how poor they are, Delhi's multidimensional poverty index was 0.01 in 2019-21 (2015-16: 0.02), on a scale where 0 means nobody is deprived; India: 0.07. Source: Reserve Bank of India · saved copy
How Delhi compares with other union territories
People multidimensionally poor (2019-21)
Delhi ranks 29 of 36, highest first.
| Rank | Region | People multidimensionally poor |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | Punjab | 4.75% |
| 27 | Ladakh | 3.53% |
| 28 | Chandigarh | 3.52% |
| 29 | Delhi | 3.43% |
| 30 | Sikkim | 2.60% |
| 31 | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 2.30% |
| 32 | Tamil Nadu | 2.20% |
More on Delhi: overview · economy and jobs · health · education and schools · government budget · India
Sources
- Reserve Bank of India: Handbook of Statistics on Indian States 2024-25, Table 180: State-wise Gender-wise Enrolments under Atal Pension Yojana (APY), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c9b0eeab4f9d…)
- Reserve Bank of India: Handbook of Statistics on Indian States 2024-25, Table 10: State-wise Poverty Estimates - Multi-dimensional Poverty Index, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c0d6483061a8…)
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