Over the past 30 years, there has been an almost constant reduction in the poverty rate worldwide. Whereas nearly ** percent of the world's population lived on less than 2.15 U.S. dollars in terms of 2017 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) in 1990, this had fallen to *** percent in 2022. This is even though the world's population was growing over the same period. However, there was a small increase in the poverty rate during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when thousands of people became unemployed overnight. Moreover, the rising cost of living in the aftermath of the pandemic and spurred by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 meant that many people were struggling to make ends meet. Poverty is a regional problem Poverty can be measured in relative and absolute terms. Absolute poverty concerns basic human needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and clean drinking water, whereas relative poverty looks at whether people in different countries can afford a certain living standard. Most countries that have a high percentage of their population living in absolute poverty, meaning that they are poor compared to international standards, are regionally concentrated. African countries are most represented among the countries in which poverty prevails the most. In terms of numbers, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have the most people living in poverty worldwide. Inequality on the rise How wealth, or the lack thereof, is distributed within the global population and even within countries is very unequal. In 2022, the richest one percent of the world owned almost half of the global wealth, while the poorest 50 percent owned less than two percent in the same year. Within regions, Latin America had the most unequal distribution of wealth, but this phenomenon is present in all world regions.

The average for 2020 based on 54 countries was 19.31 percent. The highest value was in the Gambia: 53.4 percent and the lowest value was in China: 0 percent. The indicator is available from 2000 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2023, the number of people living on less than 2.15 U.S. dollars a day worldwide stood at 10.2 percent. Between 1981 and 2023, the figure dropped by 37.2 percentage points, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory.

Historical dataset showing World poverty rate by year from 1981 to 2023.

According to a 2020 survey, the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis will increase female poverty worldwide. Globally, *** million women aged 15 years and older will be living on less than 1.90 U.S. dollars per day in 2021, compared to *** million men. The gender poverty gap is expected to increase by 2030, as women will still be the majority of the world's extreme poor.

Using a poverty metric of 2.15 U.S. dollars per day, 38.7 percent of the women in Sub-Saharan Africa were living in extreme poverty in 2023. On the other hand, less than one percent of the population in Europe and North America as well as Australia and New Zealand were living in extreme poverty. Nevertheless, there are also many people in these regions struggling to make ends meet.

The database (version August 2022) is built upon the released Global Subnational Atlas of Poverty (GSAP) (World Bank, 2021). In this database, we assemble a new panel dataset that provides (headcount) poverty rates using the daily poverty lines of US $1.90, $3.20, and $5.50 (based on the revised 2011 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) dollars). This database is generated using household income and consumption surveys from the World Bank’s Global Monitoring Database (GMD), which underlie country official poverty statistics, and offers the most detailed subnational poverty data on a global scale to date. The Global Subnational Atlas of Poverty (GSAP) is produced by the World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Global Practice, coordinated by the Data for Goals (D4G) team, and supported by the six regional statistics teams in the Poverty and Equity Global Practice, and Global Poverty & Inequality Data Team (GPID) in Development Economics Data Group (DECDG) at the World Bank. The Global Monitoring Database (GMD) is the World Bank’s repository of multitopic income and expenditure household surveys used to monitor global poverty and shared prosperity. The household survey data are typically collected by national statistical offices in each country, and then compiled, processed, and harmonized. The process is coordinated by the Data for Goals (D4G) team and supported by the six regional statistics teams in the Poverty and Equity Global Practice. Global Poverty & Inequality Data Team (GPID) in Development Economics Data Group (DECDG) also contributed historical data from before 1990, and recent survey data from Luxemburg Income Studies (LIS). Selected variables have been harmonized to the extent possible such that levels and trends in poverty and other key sociodemographic attributes can be reasonably compared across and within countries over time. The GMD’s harmonized microdata are currently used in Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP), World Bank’s Multidimensional Poverty Measures (WB MPM), the Global Database of Shared Prosperity (GDSP), and Poverty and Shared Prosperity Reports. Reference: World Bank. (2021). World Bank estimates based on data from the Global Subnational Atlas of Poverty, Global Monitoring Database. World Bank: Washington. https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/search/dataset/0042041

In 2025, nearly 11.7 percent of the world population in extreme poverty, with the poverty threshold at 2.15 U.S. dollars a day, lived in Nigeria. Moreover, the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounted for around 11.7 percent of the global population in extreme poverty. Other African nations with a large poor population were Tanzania, Mozambique, and Madagascar. Poverty levels remain high despite the forecast decline Poverty is a widespread issue across Africa. Around 429 million people on the continent were living below the extreme poverty line of 2.15 U.S. dollars a day in 2024. Since the continent had approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants, roughly a third of Africa’s population was in extreme poverty that year. Mozambique, Malawi, Central African Republic, and Niger had Africa’s highest extreme poverty rates based on the 2.15 U.S. dollars per day extreme poverty indicator (updated from 1.90 U.S. dollars in September 2022). Although the levels of poverty on the continent are forecast to decrease in the coming years, Africa will remain the poorest region compared to the rest of the world. Prevalence of poverty and malnutrition across Africa Multiple factors are linked to increased poverty. Regions with critical situations of employment, education, health, nutrition, war, and conflict usually have larger poor populations. Consequently, poverty tends to be more prevalent in least-developed and developing countries worldwide. For similar reasons, rural households also face higher poverty levels. In 2024, the extreme poverty rate in Africa stood at around 45 percent among the rural population, compared to seven percent in urban areas. Together with poverty, malnutrition is also widespread in Africa. Limited access to food leads to low health conditions, increasing the poverty risk. At the same time, poverty can determine inadequate nutrition. Almost 38.3 percent of the global undernourished population lived in Africa in 2022.

Will all children be able to read by 2030? The ability to read with comprehension is a foundational skill that every education system around the world strives to impart by late in primary school—generally by age 10. Moreover, attaining the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in education requires first achieving this basic building block, and so does improving countries’ Human Capital Index scores. Yet past evidence from many low- and middle-income countries has shown that many children are not learning to read with comprehension in primary school. To understand the global picture better, we have worked with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) to assemble a new dataset with the most comprehensive measures of this foundational skill yet developed, by linking together data from credible cross-national and national assessments of reading. This dataset covers 115 countries, accounting for 81% of children worldwide and 79% of children in low- and middle-income countries. The new data allow us to estimate the reading proficiency of late-primary-age children, and we also provide what are among the first estimates (and the most comprehensive, for low- and middle-income countries) of the historical rate of progress in improving reading proficiency globally (for the 2000-17 period). The results show that 53% of all children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read age-appropriate material by age 10, and that at current rates of improvement, this “learning poverty” rate will have fallen only to 43% by 2030. Indeed, we find that the goal of all children reading by 2030 will be attainable only with historically unprecedented progress. The high rate of “learning poverty” and slow progress in low- and middle-income countries is an early warning that all the ambitious SDG targets in education (and likely of social progress) are at risk. Based on this evidence, we suggest a new medium-term target to guide the World Bank’s work in low- and middle- income countries: cut learning poverty by at least half by 2030. This target, together with improved measurement of learning, can be as an evidence-based tool to accelerate progress to get all children reading by age 10.

For further details, please refer to https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/e52f55322528903b27f1b7e61238e416-0200022022/original/Learning-poverty-report-2022-06-21-final-V7-0-conferenceEdition.pdf

The average for 2021 based on 71 countries was 5.3 percent. The highest value was in the Central African Republic: 65.7 percent and the lowest value was in Belgium: 0 percent. The indicator is available from 1963 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This dataset contains data from the World Development Indicators on Poverty and Shared Prosperity presenting indicators that measure progress toward the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity in every country in a sustainable manner.

Global poverty statistics and rates by country

The underlying data are used to provide inputs for both the Vision indicator on the global population living in poverty as well as the Client Context indicator on the percentage of the population in FCV countries living in poverty. The Vision indicator measures the percentage of the population living on less than $2.15 a day in 2017 purchasing power parity (PPP) adjusted prices. Measures are based on internationally comparable poverty lines hold the real value of the poverty line constant across countries when making national and temporal comparisons. The current extreme poverty line ($2.15 a day, 2017 PPP) represents the median of the poverty lines found in low-income countries.

The average for 2021 based on 71 countries was 25.11 percent. The highest value was in Niger: 96.3 percent and the lowest value was in Cyprus: 0.1 percent. The indicator is available from 1963 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: Urban: % of Urban Population data was reported at 15.300 % in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 11.000 % for 2008. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: Urban: % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 10.550 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2010, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 15.300 % in 2010 and a record low of 9.300 % in 2000. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: Urban: % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Urban poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the urban population living below the national poverty lines.; ; World Bank, Global Poverty Working Group. Data are compiled from official government sources or are computed by World Bank staff using national (i.e. country–specific) poverty lines.; ; This series only includes estimates that to the best of our knowledge are reasonably comparable over time for a country. Due to differences in estimation methodologies and poverty lines, estimates should not be compared across countries.

Global Poverty and Inequality Data

Source: Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg - Income Study https://www.lisdatacenter.org/

Data Dictionary:

gini - Gini Coefficient atk5 - Atkinson Coefficient (epsilon=0.5) atk1 - Atkinson Coefficient (epsilon=1) d9010 - Percentile Ratio (90/10) d9050 - Percentile Ratio (90/50) d8020 - Percentile Ratio (80/20) poorAll4 - Relative Poverty Rates - Total Population (40%) poorAll5 - Relative Poverty Rates - Total Population (50%) poorAll6 - Relative Poverty Rates - Total Population (60%) poorK4 - Relative Poverty Rates - Children (40%) poorK5 - Relative Poverty Rates - Children (50%) poorK6 - Relative Poverty Rates - Children (60%) poorE4 - Relative Poverty Rates - Elderly (40%) poorE5 - Relative Poverty Rates - Elderly (50%) poorE6 - Relative Poverty Rates - Elderly (60%) d5075 - Distribution of Children by Income Group (50-75%) d75150 - Distribution of Children by Income Group (75-150%) d150 - Distribution of Children by Income Group (above 150%) poortp - Children Poverty Rates - Two-Parent Families (50%) poorsm - Children Poverty Rates - Single-Mother Families (50%) pkidsm - % Children Living in Single-Mother Families eymed - Median Equivalized Income average - Mean Equivalized Income

Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: % of Population data was reported at 27.800 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 26.300 % for 2012. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: % of Population data is updated yearly, averaging 23.400 % from Dec 1999 (Median) to 2015, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 27.800 % in 2015 and a record low of 16.700 % in 1999. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: % of Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. National poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty lines. National estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys.; ; World Bank, Global Poverty Working Group. Data are compiled from official government sources or are computed by World Bank staff using national (i.e. country–specific) poverty lines.; ; This series only includes estimates that to the best of our knowledge are reasonably comparable over time for a country. Due to differences in estimation methodologies and poverty lines, estimates should not be compared across countries.

Definition: The indicator “proportion of the population below the international poverty line” is defined as the percentage of the population living on less than $2.15 a day at 2017 international prices. Concepts: In assessing poverty in a given country, and how best to reduce poverty, one naturally focuses on a poverty line that is considered appropriate for that country. But how do we talk meaningfully about Last updated: 2023-03-31 “global poverty?” Poverty lines across countries vary in terms of their purchasing power, and they have a strong economic gradient, such that richer countries tend to adopt higher standards of living in defining poverty. But to consistently measure global absolute poverty in terms of consumption we need to treat two people with the same purchasing power over commodities the same way—both are either poor or not poor—even if they live in different countries. Since World Development Report 1990, the World Bank has aimed to apply a common standard in measuring extreme poverty, anchored to what poverty means in the world's poorest countries. The welfare of people living in different countries can be measured on a common scale by adjusting for differences in the purchasing power of currencies. The commonly used $1 a day standard, measured in 1985 international prices and adjusted to local currency using purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates, was chosen for World Development Report 1990 because it was typical of the poverty lines in lowincome countries at the time. As differences in the cost of living across the world evolve, the international poverty line has to be periodically updated using new PPP price data to reflect these changes. The last change was in September 2022, when the World Bank adopted $2.15 as the international poverty line using the 2017 PPP. Prior to that, the 2015 update set the international poverty line at $1.90 using the 2011 PPP. Poverty measures based on international poverty lines attempt to hold the real value of the poverty line constant across countries and over time. Unit of measure: Percent (%). The unit of measure is the proportion of people.Validation: The raw data are obtained by poverty economists through their contacts in the NSOs, and checked for quality before being submitted for further analysis. The raw data can be unit-record survey data, or grouped data, depending on the agreements with the country governments. In most cases, the welfare aggregate, the essential element for poverty estimation, is generated by the country governments. Sometimes, the World Bank constructs the welfare aggregate or adjusts the aggregate provided by the countryData availability: Data are available in 160+ economies, (measured in terms of number of economies that have at least 1 data point). References: For more information and methodology, please see : https://worldbank.github.io/PIP-Methodology/. Also, consult: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/37061

Using a poverty gap of 1.90 U.S. dollars per day, only eight percent of women in Central and South Asia were living on less than 1.90 U.S. dollars per day, but when increasing the poverty line to 3.20 dollars per day, 37 percent were living in poverty. Meanwhile, the highest female poverty rates were found in Sub-Saharan Africa, at over 40 percent at 1.90 dollars, and nearly 90 percent at 5.50 dollars.

Poverty rate at national poverty line of Morocco plummeted by 18.75% from 4.8 % in 2013 to 3.9 % in 2022. Since the 41.83% drop in 2007, poverty rate at national poverty line sank by 56.18% in 2022. National poverty rate is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty line. National estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys.