India ranked 4th among the World’s Most Equal Societies by the World Bank

Current Context: India was ranked 4th among the world’s most equal societies in the World Bank’s Spring 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief, released on 5 July 2025.

• The ranking is based on the Gini Index, where a lower score indicates greater income equality.
• India’s Gini Index score is 25.5, placing it behind the Slovak Republic (24.1), Slovenia (24.3), and Belarus (24.4).
• India now ranks ahead of major economies like China (35.7) and the USA (41.8) in income equality.
• The World Bank credited India’s progress to schemes like PM Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar-enabled DBT, Ayushman Bharat, Stand-Up India, and PMGKAY.
• Between 2011 and 2023, 171 million Indians were lifted out of extreme poverty, and the poverty rate fell from 16.2% to 2.3%.

Question:

Q.1 According to the World Bank’s Spring 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief, what is India’s rank among the world’s most equal societies based on the Gini Index?
a) 4th
b) 2nd
c) 5th
d) 6th

Answer: a) India was ranked 4th globally in income equality based on the Gini Index in the Spring 2025 World Bank report.