Patna: Bihar has registered significant improvement across key social and economic indicators over the past two decades, according to data released by the state’s Planning and Development Department.
The department said the state has recorded progress in human development, poverty alleviation, healthcare, education and public spending, positioning Bihar as one of the faster-improving states on several national benchmarks.
The figures, released as part of the government’s assessment of Bihar’s development trajectory, show gains in both welfare and income indicators.
Human Development Index improves
According to the report, Bihar’s Human Development Index (HDI) rose from 0.485 in 2006 to 0.614 in 2023, marking an increase of around 27%.
The department said this growth was higher than the national average increase of 23% during the same period.
Poverty declines sharply
Citing NITI Aayog’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), the report said Bihar recorded the sharpest reduction in multidimensional poverty among states.
The poverty rate declined from 51.89% in 2015-16 to 33.76% in 2019-21, a fall of 18.13 percentage points.
At the national level, the reduction during the same period stood at 9.89 percentage points, the report noted.
Per capita income rises 13-fold
The report said Bihar’s per capita income increased substantially over the last 20 years.
It rose from Rs. 5,780 in 2004 to Rs. 76,490 in 2024-25, representing a nearly 13-fold increase.
Public expenditure on development expands
Government spending on development programmes has also risen sharply, according to the department.
Per capita development expenditure increased from RS. 1,463 in 2005-06 to Rs. 13,279 in 2024-25.
During the same period, spending on health increased by 14.8 times, while education expenditure rose by 13.2 times.
Health indicators show improvement
The report said institutional deliveries in Bihar rose from 19.9% in 2005-06 to 81.1% in 2023-24, indicating wider access to formal healthcare.
Life expectancy at birth also improved from 64.2 years to 69.5 years over the period.
Child nutrition sees gains
The department reported improvements in child nutrition indicators.
Stunting among children declined by 20 percentage points, while the share of underweight children fell by 20.2 percentage points.
Wasting also declined by 8.1 percentage points, with the state claiming performance better than the national average.
Unemployment below national average
Data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2024 showed Bihar’s unemployment rate at 3%, slightly below the national average of 3.2%.
The state government said employment opportunities have expanded steadily.
Bihar moves up in SDG rankings
The report also highlighted Bihar’s progress in Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) rankings.
In SDG-6 (clean water and sanitation), Bihar ranked third nationally with a score of 98.
In SDG-3 (good health and well-being), the state’s score improved from 44 in 2018-19 to 67 in 2023-24.
The government said Bihar has moved from the ‘Aspirant’ category to the ‘Front Runner’ category in overall SDG performance.
