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.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic impacted East Africa's poverty level. Extreme poverty rate in the region increased from ** percent in 2019 to ** percent in 2021. South Sudan and Brurundi had the highest share of population living on less than **** U.S. dollars per day, ** percent and ** percent, respectively.

Eswatini registered the highest widespread multidimensional poverty in Africa according to surveys from 2011 to 2022. The country received a score of 0.81 on an index ranging between zero and one. Niger, Chad, and the Central African Republic followed, with a score of 0.6, 0.52, and 0.46, respectively.

Poverty and Inequality Indicators for all 54 African Countries

This dataset contains Poverty and Inequality indicators for all 54 African countries, spanning from 1960 to 2024. The data is sourced from the World Bank and has been cleaned and organized for easy use.

  Dataset Structure

The dataset is organized into folders, one for each of the 54 African countries. Within each country's folder, you will find:

A CSV file containing the indicator data for that country. A… See the full description on the dataset page: https://huggingface.co/datasets/electricsheepafrica/Poverty-and-Inequality-Indicators-For-African-Countries.

license: apache-2.0 tags: - africa - sustainable-development-goals - world-health-organization - development

  Population below international poverty line (%)





  Dataset Description

This dataset provides country-level data for the indicator "1.1.1 Population below international poverty line (%)" across African nations, sourced from the World Health Organization's (WHO) data portal on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The data is presented in a wide format… See the full description on the dataset page: https://huggingface.co/datasets/electricsheepafrica/population-below-international-poverty-line-for-african-countries.

license: apache-2.0 tags: - africa - sustainable-development-goals - world-health-organization - development

  Employed population below international poverty line (%) - Male





  Dataset Description

This dataset provides country-level data for the indicator "1.1.1 Employed population below international poverty line (%) - Male" across African nations, sourced from the World Health Organization's (WHO) data portal on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The data is… See the full description on the dataset page: https://huggingface.co/datasets/electricsheepafrica/employed-population-below-international-poverty-line-male-for-african-countries.

In 2012, Madagascar ranked first by number of people living on less than 2.15 U.S. dollars a day among the 51 countries presented in the ranking. Madagascar's number of people amounted to ***** percent, while the Congo (Congo Kinshasa) (2020) and Mozambique (2019), the second and third countries, had records amounting to ***** percent and ***** percent, respectively.

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.

The dataset was used to carry out the empirical analyses on the paper titled "Corruption and Poverty Dilemma: A Comparative Analysis of Anglophone and Francophone African Countries"

Historical dataset showing Africa poverty rate by year from N/A to N/A.

Historical dataset showing Sub-Saharan Africa poverty rate by year from 1990 to 2019.

Increase in poverty gap due to household health expenditures, expressed as a proportion of a relative poverty line (60% of median daily per capita consumption or income) (%)

  Dataset Description

This dataset provides information on 'Increase in poverty gap due to household health expenditures, expressed as a proportion of a relative poverty line' for countries in the WHO African Region. The data is disaggregated by the 'Place of residence' dimension, allowing for analysis… See the full description on the dataset page: https://huggingface.co/datasets/electricsheepafrica/increase-in-poverty-gap-due-to-household-health-ex-for-african-countries.

Sudan has the highest poverty rate in North Africa. According to projections, around ** percent of Sudan's population lived below the national poverty line in 2022. Poverty levels were also high in Mauritania and Egypt, with the poverty rate reaching almost ** percent. By 2023, poverty in the region was projected to decline slightly.

The average for 2020 based on 2 countries was 47.65 percent. The highest value was in the Gambia: 53.4 percent and the lowest value was in Mali: 41.9 percent. The indicator is available from 2000 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Central African Republic CF: Poverty Gap at National Poverty Lines: Rural: % data was reported at 35.000 % in 2008. Central African Republic CF: Poverty Gap at National Poverty Lines: Rural: % data is updated yearly, averaging 35.000 % from Dec 2008 (Median) to 2008, with 1 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 35.000 % in 2008 and a record low of 35.000 % in 2008. Central African Republic CF: Poverty Gap at National Poverty Lines: Rural: % data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Central African Republic – Table CF.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. Rural poverty gap at national poverty lines is the rural population's mean shortfall from the poverty lines (counting the nonpoor as having zero shortfall) as a percentage of the poverty lines. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.; ; 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.

This study investigates The This effect of participation in The This Global Value Chain (GVC) and the conditional effect quality of institutions (QI) on Multidimensional Energy Poverty (MEPI) in the short and long run for 51 African countries over the period 1998-2018 period. For this purpose, the DCCE-ARDL approach was employed, along with the GVC and QI indices. The multidimensional Energy poverty index (MEPI) includes electricity, clean fuel, and technology for cooking poverty. The findings show that GVC participation negatively affects energy poverty not only in the short run but also in the long run, meaning that GVC reduces multidimensional energy poverty in Africa. Furthermore, when QI is included, the reduction in energy poverty is related to participation in the GVC widening. That is, the better the quality of the institution, the larger is the total effect of GVC integration on the reduction in energy poverty. Furthermore, QI is significant in GVC-rural energy poverty, while it turns positive in the urban effect. Finally, through QI, GVC participation leads to a reduction in the rural-urban gap in energy poverty gap. Robustness checks using quantile regression and alternative measurements of QI and energy poverty support the baseline results. The implications of this policy are discussed based on this evidence.

The dataset is used to examine the nonlinear and threshold effects of FinTech on growth, inequality and poverty in the panel of African Countries.

Central African Republic CF: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: Rural: % of Rural Population data was reported at 69.400 % in 2008. Central African Republic CF: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: Rural: % of Rural Population data is updated yearly, averaging 69.400 % from Dec 2008 (Median) to 2008, with 1 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 69.400 % in 2008 and a record low of 69.400 % in 2008. Central African Republic CF: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: Rural: % of Rural Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Central African Republic – Table CF.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. Rural poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the rural 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.

The average for 2021 based on 12 countries was 79.94 percent. The highest value was in Niger: 96.3 percent and the lowest value was in Tunisia: 16.2 percent. The indicator is available from 1963 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Historical dataset showing Central African Republic poverty rate by year from 1992 to 2021.