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

In Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, almost all the population had access to safely managed drinking water in 2024. By comparison, less than 40 percent had the same in Laos, Cambodia, and Indonesia, underlining the varying access to clean drinking water in East and Southeast Asia.

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.

Singapour: Poverty, percent of population: Pour cet indicateur, La Banque mondiale fournit des données pour la Singapour de à . La valeur moyenne pour Singapour pendant cette période était de pour cent avec un minimum de pour cent en et un maximum de pour cent en .

a. Total number of workers on home leave. * subjects do have both baseline and post-intervention. b. Weekly distribution of workers who took home leave. * subjects do have both baseline and post-intervention. (ZIP)

Overview of the nutrition, blood pressure, and homocysteine status of 133 eligible construction workers.

In a survey conducted between December 2024 and January 2025, ** percent of the respondents from Indonesia voiced concern over poverty and social inequality in their country. In contrast, ** percent of the respondents from Singapore reported being concerned about poverty and social inequality in the same period.

In 2025, Luxembourg was the country with the highest gross domestic product per capita in the world. Of the 20 listed countries, 13 are in Europe and five are in Asia, alongside the U.S. and Australia. There are no African or Latin American countries among the top 20. Correlation with high living standards While GDP is a useful indicator for measuring the size or strength of an economy, GDP per capita is much more reflective of living standards. For example, when compared to life expectancy or indices such as the Human Development Index or the World Happiness Report, there is a strong overlap - 14 of the 20 countries on this list are also ranked among the 20 happiest countries in 2024, and all 20 have "very high" HDIs. Misleading metrics? GDP per capita figures, however, can be misleading, and to paint a fuller picture of a country's living standards then one must look at multiple metrics. GDP per capita figures can be skewed by inequalities in wealth distribution, and in countries such as those in the Middle East, a relatively large share of the population lives in poverty while a smaller number live affluent lifestyles.