Out of all OECD countries, Cost Rica had the highest poverty rate as of 2022, at over 20 percent. The country with the second highest poverty rate was the United States, with 18 percent. On the other end of the scale, Czechia had the lowest poverty rate at 6.4 percent, followed by Denmark.

The significance of the OECD

The OECD, or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, was founded in 1948 and is made up of 38 member countries. It seeks to improve the economic and social well-being of countries and their populations. The OECD looks at issues that impact people’s everyday lives and proposes policies that can help to improve the quality of life.

Poverty in the United States

In 2022, there were nearly 38 million people living below the poverty line in the U.S.. About one fourth of the Native American population lived in poverty in 2022, the most out of any ethnicity. In addition, the rate was higher among young women than young men. It is clear that poverty in the United States is a complex, multi-faceted issue that affects millions of people and is even more complex to solve.

Poverty Headcount Ratio at Societal Poverty Lines: % of Population data was reported at 19.000 % in 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 20.900 % for 2020. Poverty Headcount Ratio at Societal Poverty Lines: % of Population data is updated yearly, averaging 31.700 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2021, with 19 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 72.000 % in 1990 and a record low of 19.000 % in 2021. Poverty Headcount Ratio at Societal Poverty Lines: % of Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s China – Table CN.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. The poverty headcount ratio at societal poverty line is the percentage of a population living in poverty according to the World Bank's Societal Poverty Line. The Societal Poverty Line is expressed in purchasing power adjusted 2017 U.S. dollars and defined as max($2.15, $1.15 + 0.5*Median). This means that when the national median is sufficiently low, the Societal Poverty line is equivalent to the extreme poverty line, $2.15. For countries with a sufficiently high national median, the Societal Poverty Line grows as countries’ median income grows.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

All the 20 countries with the highest poverty rates in the world are located in Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique were the two countries with the highest share of people living on less than 2.15 U.S. dollars a day when adjusting for 2017 Purchasing Power Parities (PPP), both at over ** percent.

World Bank has a Poverty and Inequality Platform where country data can be downloaded for Poverty, Inequality and Multi-dimensional Poverty. The link https://pip.worldbank.org/country-profiles will take you to the Country Poverty Profile and from this page you can select any country and choose between one of three the Poverty Lines: $1.9, $3.2 or $5.5 (at 2011 international prices) and that Poverty Profile will be called up. Then you can select the Poverty, Inequality and Multi-dimensional Poverty data that you want to download. The Reporting Years are: 2000, 2008 and 2018.

Chad was the country with the highest prevalence of multidimensional poverty in the world based on surveys from 2018 to 2023. The African country was given an index score of 0.5 on a scale from zero to one. Its neighbor Central African Republic ranked second, followed by Burundi in third. A high number of the countries on the list are located in Africa.

Considering the latest available data, Mozambique had the highest share of the population living in extreme poverty among the selected African countries, corresponding to around **** percent in 2019. Malawi, Central African Republic, Niger, and Tanzania followed with approximately ****, ****, ****, and **** percent between 2018 and 2021, respectively. The extreme poverty line was set at **** U.S. dollars a day, taking into consideration Purchasing Power Parities (PPP).

Among the OECD countries, Costa Rica had the highest share of children living in poverty, reaching 28.5 percent in 2022. Türkiye followed with a share of 22 percent of children living in poverty, while 20.5 percent of children in Spain, Chile, and the United States did the same. On the other hand, only three percent of children in Finland were living in poverty.

The Multidimensional Poverty Measure (MPM) seeks to understand poverty beyond just a monetary dimension by including access to education and basic infrastructure along with the monetary headcount ratio at the $1.90 poverty line. The World Bank’s measure takes inspiration and guidance from other prominent multidimensional measures, particularly the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) developed by UNDP and Oxford University but differs from them in one important aspect: it includes Monetary poverty (measured as having a daily consumption less than $1.90 in 2011 PPP) as one of the dimensions. While monetary poverty is strongly correlated with deprivations in other domains, this correlation is far from perfect. The Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020 (World Bank, 2020) report shows that over a third of those experiencing multidimensional poverty are not captured by the monetary headcount ratio, in line with the findings of the previous edition of the report (World Bank, 2018). A country’s MPM is at least as high as or higher than the monetary poverty, reflecting the additional role of nonmonetary dimensions in increasing multidimensional poverty and their importance to general well-being.

Graph and download economic data for Estimated Percent of People of All Ages in Poverty for United States (PPAAUS00000A156NCEN) from 1989 to 2023 about percent, child, poverty, and USA.

Jordan JO: Poverty Gap at National Poverty Lines: % data was reported at 3.600 % in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 2.600 % for 2008. Jordan JO: Poverty Gap at National Poverty Lines: % data is updated yearly, averaging 3.100 % from Dec 2008 (Median) to 2010, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.600 % in 2010 and a record low of 2.600 % in 2008. Jordan JO: Poverty Gap at National Poverty Lines: % data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Jordan – Table JO.World Bank: Poverty. Poverty gap at national poverty lines is the 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.

Context

This dataset was uploaded to support the Data Science For Good Kiva crowdfunding challenge. In particular, in uploading this dataset, I intend to assist with mapping subnational locations in the Kiva dataset to more accurate geocodes.

Content

This dataset contains poverty data at the administrative unit level 1, based on national poverty line(s). Administrative unit level 1 refers to the highest subnational unit level (examples include ‘state’, ‘governorate’, ‘province’). This dataset also provides data and methodology for distinguishing between poverty rates in urban and rural regions.

This dataset includes one main .csv file: Subnational-PovertyData.csv, which includes a set of poverty indicators at the national and subnational level between the years 1996-2013. Many countries are missing data for multiple years, and no country has data for the years 1997-1999.

It also includes three metadata .csv files: 1. Subnational-PovertyCountry.csv, which describes the country codes and subregions. 2.Subnational-PovertySeries.csv, which describes the three series indicators for national, urban, and rural poverty headcount ratios. This metadata file also including limitations, statistical methodologies, and development relevance for these metrics. 3. Subnational-Povertyfootnote.csv, which describes the years and sources for all of the country-series combinations.

Acknowledgements

This dataset is provided openly by the World Bank. Individual sources for the different data series are available in Subnational-Povertyfootnote.csv.

This dataset is classified as Public under the Access to Information Classification Policy. Users inside and outside the World Bank can access this dataset. It is licensed under CC-BY 4.0.

Metadata

Type: Time Series Topics: Economic Growth Poverty Economy Coverage: IBRD Languages Supported: English Number of Economies: 60 Geographical Coverage: World Access Options: Download, Query Tool Temporal Coverage: 1996 - 2013 Last Updated: April 27, 2015

European Union - At Risk of Poverty rate: Population was 15.50% in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for European Union - At Risk of Poverty rate: Population - last updated from the EUROSTAT on July of 2025. Historically, European Union - At Risk of Poverty rate: Population reached a record high of 16.70% in December of 2016 and a record low of 15.30% in December of 2010.

Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): countries where the MPI is below 0.6. Pixels with a value lower than the specified threshold (0.6) were given a value of 1 (YES response)

The 2020 Global MPI data and publication "Charting pathways out of multidimensional poverty: Achieving the SDGs" released on 16 July 2020 by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford and the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The global MPI measures the complexities of poor people’s lives, individually and collectively, each year. This report focuses on how multidimensional poverty has declined. It provides a comprehensive picture of global trends in multidimensional poverty, covering 5 billion people. It probes patterns between and within countries and by indicator, showcasing different ways of making progress. Together with data on the $1.90 a day poverty rate, the trends monitor global poverty in different forms.

Data revision: 2020-07-16

Contact points:

Contact: Admir Jahic UNDP

Metadata contact: OCB Environment FAO-UN

Resource constraints:

license

Online resources:

Global Multidimensional Poverty Index

Charting pathways out of multidimensional poverty: Achieving the SDGs

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

This poverty rate data shows what percentage of the measured population* falls below the poverty line. Poverty is closely related to income: different “poverty thresholds” are in place for different sizes and types of household. A family or individual is considered to be below the poverty line if that family or individual’s income falls below their relevant poverty threshold. For more information on how poverty is measured by the U.S. Census Bureau (the source for this indicator’s data), visit the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty webpage.

The poverty rate is an important piece of information when evaluating an area’s economic health and well-being. The poverty rate can also be illustrative when considered in the contexts of other indicators and categories. As a piece of data, it is too important and too useful to omit from any indicator set.

The poverty rate for all individuals in the measured population in Champaign County has hovered around roughly 20% since 2005. However, it reached its lowest rate in 2021 at 14.9%, and its second lowest rate in 2023 at 16.3%. Although the American Community Survey (ACS) data shows fluctuations between years, given their margins of error, none of the differences between consecutive years’ estimates are statistically significant, making it impossible to identify a trend.

Poverty rate data was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, which are released annually.

As with any datasets that are estimates rather than exact counts, it is important to take into account the margins of error (listed in the column beside each figure) when drawing conclusions from the data.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of providing the standard 1-year data products, the Census Bureau released experimental estimates from the 1-year data in 2020. This includes a limited number of data tables for the nation, states, and the District of Columbia. The Census Bureau states that the 2020 ACS 1-year experimental tables use an experimental estimation methodology and should not be compared with other ACS data. For these reasons, and because data is not available for Champaign County, no data for 2020 is included in this Indicator.

For interested data users, the 2020 ACS 1-Year Experimental data release includes a dataset on Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months by Age.

*According to the U.S. Census Bureau document “How Poverty is Calculated in the ACS," poverty status is calculated for everyone but those in the following groups: “people living in institutional group quarters (such as prisons or nursing homes), people in military barracks, people in college dormitories, living situations without conventional housing, and unrelated individuals under 15 years old."

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (17 October 2024).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (25 September 2023).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (16 September 2022).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (8 June 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (8 June 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2016 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (14 September 2017).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2015 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (19 September 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2009 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2007 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2006 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2005 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S1701; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (16 March 2016).

World poverty rate for 2023 was 47.00%, a 1% decline from 2022.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>World poverty rate for 2022 was <strong>48.00%</strong>, a <strong>0.6% decline</strong> from 2021.</li>
<li>World poverty rate for 2021 was <strong>48.60%</strong>, a <strong>1.8% decline</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>World poverty rate for 2020 was <strong>50.40%</strong>, a <strong>4.1% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
</ul>Poverty headcount ratio at $5.50 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $5.50 a day at 2011 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.

Contains data from the World Bank's data portal. There is also a consolidated country dataset on HDX.

For countries with an active poverty monitoring program, the World Bank—in collaboration with national institutions, other development agencies, and civil society—regularly conducts analytical work to assess the extent and causes of poverty and inequality, examine the impact of growth and public policy, and review household survey data and measurement methods. Data here includes poverty and inequality measures generated from analytical reports, from national poverty monitoring programs, and from the World Bank’s Development Research Group which has been producing internationally comparable and global poverty estimates and lines since 1990.

Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population) in Indonesia was reported at 9 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Indonesia - Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line (% of population) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population) in Mexico was reported at 36.3 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Mexico - Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line (% of population) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Contains data from the World Bank's data portal. There is also a consolidated country dataset on HDX.

For countries with an active poverty monitoring program, the World Bank—in collaboration with national institutions, other development agencies, and civil society—regularly conducts analytical work to assess the extent and causes of poverty and inequality, examine the impact of growth and public policy, and review household survey data and measurement methods. Data here includes poverty and inequality measures generated from analytical reports, from national poverty monitoring programs, and from the World Bank’s Development Research Group which has been producing internationally comparable and global poverty estimates and lines since 1990.