West Bengal Poverty, Growth & Inequality
West Bengal is India’s 4th most populous state in India with 91 million people, a fifth of who are Public Disclosure Authorized poor. Although poverty reduction in the state was faster after 2005, pockets of high poverty still persist within the state. What’s more, after 2005, the state’s economic growth, which is driven mainly by services, has been weak. So much so that West Bengal grew at an even slower pace than the country’s other low income states. Furthermore, consumption inequality, which increased marginally after 2005, is close to the national average.
Poverty in West Bengal is close to the national average
Population below poverty line, 2012 (%) 50 Public Disclosure Authorized
40 40 37 37 35 34 33 32 32 30 29
22 22 21 20 20 19 17 17 15 15 12 12 11 11 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 8 5
Public Disclosure Authorized 0 CG JH MN AR BH OD AS MP UP AI MZ KA WB NL MH GJ TR RJ MG TN UK HR JK DL AP SK PJ KL HP GA
Low Income States are highlighted in orange, AI is All India.
Some districts in West Bengal have very high poverty
District level poverty, 2012
Patna
Population below the poverty line, 2012 (%)
Public Disclosure Authorized 4-90.6-5.2 9-205.3-13.2 20-2613.3-17.2 N 26-3117.3-22.6 31-3822.7-62.8
1 June 20, 2017
4 − 9 9 − 20 20 − 26 26 − 31 31 − 38
West Bengal Poverty, Growth & Inequality
Like many other states, poverty reduction in West Bengal was faster after 2005
Population below poverty line, (%) 70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0 MN JH BH OD AR AS CG KA MH UP AI TN AP MP WB RJ GJ MG HR HP UK TR SK KL JK PJ GA NL DL MZ
● 1994 ● 2005 ● 2012
Low Income States are highlighted in orange, AI is All India.
There was faster poverty reduction in both rural and urban areas of West Bengal after 2005
Population below poverty line, (%) 60
50
42 ural 40 Total 38 40
35 30 rban 31 23 24 20 20
15 10
0 1994 2005 2012
2 June 20, 2017
West Bengal Poverty, Growth & Inequality
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
-1 AS igh poverty, Since 2005, West Bengal’s growth has lagged behinddeclining most otherslowly states in India, including the Low Income States -3 C 12 -5 P
11 P -7 A B WB All India 10 Improving Leading
-9 9 Data for 19 large states and All India. T Low Income States are highlighted in orange. 8 -11 AP L L 7 P P B -13 T Interpreting the graph A 6 P C P Annual decline in poverty rate, 2005 - 2012 (%) P -15 Improving Leading Low poverty, Low income, High income, 5 P WBAP declining fast high growth high growth -17 Annual growth rate, 2005 - 2012 (%) 4 Lagging Weakening AS
Annual growth rate, 2005 - 2012 (%) Lagging Weakening 3 Low income, High income, low growth low growth
2 Improvement from 2005 to 2012 0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000 Standard of living, 2005
RealReal GSDP GSDP per capita, per capita,(2005 Rupees) (2005 Rupees)All India
Services contribute the most to West Bengal’s growth
Annual growth rate, (%) Components of GSDP growth rate, (%) 15 15 10 10
8 8 4.5 5.5 5.0 4.7 10 10 6 6 5.0 5.0 5.8 5.0 4 4 5 5 3.9 1.9 1.5 2 2 1.8
0.7 1.4 1.4 1.2 0 0 0 0 0.5 0.5 0.1 2005200520062006200720072008200820092009201020102011201120122012 -0.4 -0.4 -0.4 -1.5 -0.5 ■ West Bengal GSDP ■ All India GDP -2 -2 20052005200620062007200720082008200920092010201020112011 20122012
■ Services ■ Industry ■ Agriculture
3 June 20, 2017
West Bengal Poverty, Growth & Inequality
The pace of poverty reduction in West Bengal after 2005 was similar to the national average
Poverty rate, 2005 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
-1 AS igh poverty, declining slowly -3 C
-5 P
P -7 A B WB All India
-9 Data for 19 large states and All India. Low Income States are highlighted in orange. -11 L P -13 T
P Annual decline in poverty rate, 2005 - 2012 (%) -15 Low poverty, declining fast AP Annual decline in poverty rate, 2005 - 2012 (%) -17
A substantial share of India’s poor live in West Bengal
bubble size: number of poor (millions) 25
UP
20
BH Data for 19 large states and All India. 15 Low Income States are highlighted in yellow.
Interpreting the graph 10 MP MH Share of poor > share of population OD KA WB
State share in India’s poor, 2012 (% ) JH 5 share of population State share in India’s poor, 2012 (%) CG RJ = AS GJ AP TN Share of poor < share HR Share of poor KL of population UK PJ 0 What % of India’s poor lives in this state? HP What % of India’s population lives in this state? 0 510152025 StateState share share in in India’s India’s population, population, 2012 2012 (%) (%) 4 June 20, 2017
West Bengal Poverty, Growth & Inequality
Since 2005, consumption inequality has increased marginally in West Bengal
Gini coefficient
0.4 0.39 0.37
0.33 0.32 0.31 0.3 0.27 0.26 0.24 0.24
0.2
0.1
0.0 Total Rural Urban
■ 1994 ■ 2005 ■ 2012
Consumption inequality in West Bengal is close to the national average
Gini coefficient, 2012 0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1 KL DL KA MH AR TN AI HR WB MP CG UP PJ HP GA UK AP GJ MZ OD JK JH RJ AS TR NL BH SK MG MN
Low Income States are highlighted in orange, AI is All India.
5 June 20, 2017