Households by annual income brackets India 2010-2025

As of 2016, about 121 million households in India belonged to the middle-income bracket earning a gross annual income between 7,700 and 15,400 U.S. dollars. This figure is expected to grow up to 140 million households by 2025, thus making India's middle class a large entity of the total population in terms of wealth and standard of living.

Middle-class income group and the COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic specifically during the lockdown in March 2020, loss of incomes hit the entire household income spectrum. However, research showed the severest affected groups were the upper middle- and middle-class income brackets. In addition, unemployment rates were rampant nationwide that further lead to a dismally low GDP. Despite job recoveries over the last few months, improvement in incomes were insignificant.

Economic inequality

While India maybe one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it is also one of the most vulnerable and severely afflicted economies in terms of economic inequality. The vast discrepancy between the rich and poor has been prominent since the last three decades. The rich continue to grow richer at a faster pace while the impoverished struggle more than ever before to earn a minimum wage. The widening gaps in the economic structure affect women and children the most. This is a call for reinforcement in in the country’s social structure that emphasizes access to quality education and universal healthcare services.