How poor is poor? Poverty and hunger remain, but fewer people live in extreme poverty. Between 1981 and 2008, the proportion of people in the developing world living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 52 to 22 percent, and nearly 650 million people were lifted out of poverty. Despite the 2008 financial crisis and food and fuel price increases, global poverty has continued to fall, but progress has been uneven and more than a billion people remain in dire need.
Man selling household goods out of a cart in the slum district of Bangalore, India
quality public services and infrastructure, and by protecting vulnerable people such as women, children, and the elderly. There is no single solution; the best strategies will depend on the circumstances in each country. Definitions of poverty vary from country to country. A poverty line set at $1.25 a day in 2005 purchasing power is used by the World Bank as the working definition of extreme poverty. It represents the level of consumption of the poorest people in the poorest countries of the world. Since
Poverty is found everywhere that poor health and lack of education deprive people of productive employment; where environmental resources have been depleted or spoiled; and where corruption, conflict, and bad governance waste public resources and discourage private investment. Poverty needs to be tackled on many fronts: by creating more and better jobs, delivering
While the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day has fallen, the number living on between $1.25 and $2.00 a day has increased People living in poverty (billions) 3.0
People living on more than $1.25 and less than $2.00 a day
2.5
All developing regions
2.0
People living on less than $1.25 a day Other developing regions
1.5
East Asia & Pacific 1.0 South Asia 0.5 Sub-Saharan Africa 0.0 1 198
28
4
198
7
198
0
199
3
199
6
199
9
199
2
200
Source: World Bank, PovcalNet – an online poverty analysis tool, iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index
5
200
8
200