Bhubaneswar, Feb. 23: Good news on the economic front for Odisha. Despite the global slowdown, the state economy has grown at an average annual rate of 8.49 per cent during the first four years of the 11th plan. The anticipated growth rate of Odisha is estimated at 7.18 per cent as against all India anticipated growth rate of 6.9 per cent in 2011-12.

The state per capita income has started rising and the gap with the average national per capita income is reducing steadily. Odisha’s real per capita income for 2009-10 at Rs 24,275 was higher than that of Bihar (Rs 11,558), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 19,736), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 16,182), Jharkhand (Rs 22,780), Assam (Rs 20,279) and Rajasthan (Rs 23,669).

The state’s real per capita net state domestic product for 2010-11 was Rs 25,708 and is expected to be Rs 26,900 in 2011–12. This scenario was revealed in the Economic Survey Report- 2011-12 that was tabled in the Assembly today.

The poverty rate has come down from 39.80 per cent in 2004-05 to 29.69 per cent in 2009-10. On the other hand, the southern region has the highest poverty followed by the northern region. Both the southern and northern regions account for as much as 85 per cent of the poor in the state. In 2009-10, only about 16 per cent of the population lived below poverty line in the coastal region.

The bleak side of the economy is that though the percentage of unemployment has shown a marginal slide down of one per cent and dropped to 8.76 per cent, the overall employment in the organised sector has declined during 2000-2010.

While the share of private sector employment has been steadily increasing, this sector still absorbs less than one-fourth of employment in the public sector. In 2000, 7.98 lakh people were employed. However, it declined to 7.31 lakh in 2010. However, the percentage of women participation over the years has increased from 12.4 per cent to 16.2 per cent during the period.

In 2010-11, the state’s economy is becoming less agricultural, more industrial and service oriented over time. In 2010-11, agriculture represents only 17.59 per cent of Odisha gross state domestic product (GSDP). The service sector and industry sector represent 56.72 per cent and 25.69 per cent, respectively. As per the advance estimate of the GSDP for the year 2011-12, agriculture accounts for 16.46 per cent of the state’s GSDP. The industry sector represents 26.20 per cent and the service sector 57.34 per cent.

The annual growth rate has also varied from district wise. Sundergarh district has reported the highest annual average growth rate of 13.9 per cent and Malkangiri the lowest of 5.2 per cent during the period from 2005-06 to 2008-09. The top five districts in terms of average annual growth rates include Sundergarh, Jharsuguda, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda and Sambalpur. Angul reports the highest per capita district income.