Poverty and living standards in Karnataka, India: official figures
7.6% of people in Karnataka were multidimensionally poor in 2019-21, down from 12.8% 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; 18th lowest of 36.
How many people in Karnataka have left poverty?
Applied to the official population projections, that means about 5.08 million people in Karnataka were poor in 2021, against about 8.22 million in 2016: roughly 3.15 million fewer in five years.
Source: Reserve Bank of India · saved copyHow deep is poverty in Karnataka?
Poor people in Karnataka were on average deprived in 41.2% of the weighted indicators in 2019-21 (the intensity of poverty), compared with 42.8% in 2015-16; the all-India figure was 44.4%.
Source: Reserve Bank of India · saved copyHow many people in Karnataka are saving for a pension?
646,057 people in Karnataka joined the Atal Pension Yojana, the government-backed pension for workers without a formal pension, in 2024-25; 54% of them were women. That is 9.5 new members per 1,000 residents.
Source: Reserve Bank of India · saved copyMore figures
- Combining how many are poor and how poor they are, Karnataka's multidimensional poverty index was 0.03 in 2019-21 (2015-16: 0.06), on a scale where 0 means nobody is deprived; India: 0.07. Source: Reserve Bank of India · saved copy
How Karnataka compares with other states
People multidimensionally poor (2019-21)
Karnataka ranks 19 of 36, highest first.
| Rank | Region | People multidimensionally poor |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 9.21% |
| 17 | Manipur | 8.10% |
| 18 | Maharashtra | 7.81% |
| 19 | Karnataka | 7.58% |
| 20 | Haryana | 7.07% |
| 21 | Andhra Pradesh | 6.06% |
| 22 | Telangana | 5.88% |
More on Karnataka: 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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