Poverty in India: The Rangarajan Method and the 2022–23 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey

This paper examines data on poverty in India from the most recent Household Consumption and Expenditure Survey, whose reference year is 2022–23. When these data were released by the Government of India, reports and studies stated that the data showed a substantial decline in poverty in India. We computed poverty levels by using the method proposed by the Expert Group to Review the Methodology for the Measurement of Poverty chaired by Dr. C. Rangarajan, which submitted its report in 2014. Our results showed significantly higher levels of poverty in 2022–23 than previously suggested.