The Planning Commission today said poverty in India declined 7.3 percentage points to 29.8% of the population over five years to 2009-10.

Poverty in rural areas declined at a faster pace than in urban cities between 2004-05 and 2009-10, according to the Planning Commission estimates released today. The total number of poor in the country has been estimated at 34.47 crore in 2009-10, as against 40.72 crore in 2004-05.