Poverty and living standards in West Bengal, India: official figures
11.9% of people in West Bengal were multidimensionally poor in 2019-21, down from 21.3% 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; 13th highest of 36.
How many people in West Bengal have left poverty?
Applied to the official population projections, that means about 11.69 million people in West Bengal were poor in 2021, against about 20.29 million in 2016: roughly 8.60 million fewer in five years.
Source: Reserve Bank of India · saved copyHow deep is poverty in West Bengal?
Poor people in West Bengal were on average deprived in 42.4% of the weighted indicators in 2019-21 (the intensity of poverty), compared with 45.5% in 2015-16; the all-India figure was 44.4%.
Source: Reserve Bank of India · saved copyHow many people in West Bengal are saving for a pension?
939,077 people in West Bengal joined the Atal Pension Yojana, the government-backed pension for workers without a formal pension, in 2024-25; 62% of them were women. That is 9.4 new members per 1,000 residents.
Source: Reserve Bank of India · saved copyMore figures
- Combining how many are poor and how poor they are, West Bengal's multidimensional poverty index was 0.05 in 2019-21 (2015-16: 0.10), on a scale where 0 means nobody is deprived; India: 0.07. Source: Reserve Bank of India · saved copy
How West Bengal compares with other states
People multidimensionally poor (2019-21)
West Bengal ranks 13 of 36, highest first.
| Rank | Region | People multidimensionally poor |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Rajasthan | 15.31% |
| 11 | Arunachal Pradesh | 13.76% |
| 12 | Tripura | 13.11% |
| 13 | West Bengal | 11.89% |
| 14 | Gujarat | 11.66% |
| 15 | Uttarakhand | 9.67% |
| 16 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 9.21% |
More on West Bengal: 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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