The poorest 10 percent of people in some of the world’s richest countries have higher daily income or consumption levels than the richest 10 percent in India, according to data from the World Bank’s 2026 Poverty and Inequality Platform.
The comparison highlights the wide gap in living standards between India and advanced economies and suggests that raising incomes across the population, rather than addressing poverty alone, remains a key challenge for the country, Indian media outlet NDTV writes.
The daily income or consumption threshold for the poorest 10 percent of Indians is around $3 per person, according to the data cited in the comparison.
The corresponding threshold is about $25 in the United States, $31 in Canada and $28 in both Germany and Australia.
The difference remains stark at the upper end of the income distribution.
A daily income or consumption level of around $10 per person is enough to put someone among India’s richest 10 percent. The comparable threshold is around $173 in the United States, $129 in Canada and Australia, and $128 in Germany.
India’s Economic Survey also indicates that an individual earning around Rs 80,000 a month falls among the country’s top 10 percent of earners.
The figures suggest that even households near the top of India’s income distribution can have lower living standards than people near the bottom in several wealthy economies.
‘Low Incomes Across the Economy’
Ahona Duttagupta, a programme associate at the Foundation for Economic Development, said the comparison points to a broader problem for India — relatively low incomes throughout the economy rather than poverty alone.
In India, consumption of around $10 a day can place someone among the richest 10 percent. In countries such as Canada, Japan and the United States, a similar level of consumption can leave a person among the poorest 10 percent.
Duttagupta argued that improving the living standards of India’s poorest people is essential, but would not by itself be enough to turn India into a prosperous economy.
Even if poorer Indians were able to reach the living standards currently enjoyed by the country’s better-off households, they could still remain substantially poorer than people in advanced economies.
India therefore needs to raise incomes and productivity across the economy, rather than focusing solely on reducing inequality between poorer and richer households, she said.
Productivity Key to Higher Incomes
Higher productivity enables workers and businesses to produce more with the same amount of labour, land and capital. Sustained productivity growth can in turn support higher wages, better-paying jobs and rising household incomes.
Duttagupta said innovation and an environment that allows businesses to experiment are important for improving productivity.
Since policymakers and entrepreneurs cannot know beforehand which business ideas will succeed, companies need room to test new approaches, recover from genuine failures and expand when they find successful models.
That would require making it easier to start and expand businesses, maintaining reasonable and predictable taxation, and reducing unnecessary regulatory and compliance burdens.
India has already moved to simplify some compliance requirements and decriminalise certain minor offences, but further reforms are needed to help businesses expand and create jobs.
Such measures could include regular reviews of existing regulations, faster enforcement of contracts and the development of industrial clusters where businesses can operate in a regulatory environment that helps them compete internationally.
The broader challenge, according to Duttagupta, is not simply to help poorer Indians climb higher within the country’s existing income distribution.
For lasting prosperity, India will have to raise the overall level of incomes across that distribution.