Poverty Rate by Country (2020)

Global Poverty Overview

The decline of extreme poverty is one of humanity's greatest achievements. In 1990, 36% of the world's population — nearly 2 billion people — lived on less than $2.15 per day (2017 PPP). Today, that figure has fallen below 9%, representing approximately 700 million people. This reduction was driven primarily by China's extraordinary economic growth, which lifted 800 million people above the poverty line in three decades — the largest poverty reduction in human history.

However, progress has been deeply uneven. Sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for over 60% of the world's extreme poor, a concentration that reflects slower economic growth, high population growth, conflict, and weak institutions. Several countries — including Madagascar, the DRC, Mozambique, and South Sudan — have poverty rates exceeding 70%, meaning the vast majority of their population lives on less than what would buy a basic meal in a wealthy country. The COVID-19 pandemic reversed years of progress, pushing an estimated 70 million additional people into extreme poverty.

Measuring poverty through income alone misses important dimensions. Access to healthcare, education, clean water, and social protection can make the real experience of poverty better or worse than the $2.15 threshold suggests. The World Bank also tracks higher poverty lines: $3.65/day (relevant for lower-middle-income countries) and $6.85/day (upper-middle-income). By the $6.85 threshold, nearly half the world's population is poor. Poverty data is inherently lagged — many countries only conduct household surveys every 3-5 years — so the rankings should be interpreted as the best available estimates rather than real-time measurements.

World Bank's March 2026 Global Poverty Update

The World Bank's March 2026 Global Poverty Update confirms that 847 million people still live in extreme poverty — below the $2.15/day threshold. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for approximately 67% of the world's extreme poor, and that share is rising as Africa's poverty reduction has stalled while its population grows rapidly. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria together account for nearly a quarter of global extreme poverty despite representing only 5% of the world's population — a concentration that reflects the depth of governance, infrastructure, and conflict challenges in both countries. DRC alone — with the world's largest cobalt reserves and abundant mineral wealth — simultaneously has the world's highest extreme poverty rate, illustrating how resource abundance without institutional capacity produces little welfare improvement.

The 2026 Hormuz crisis — which raised global oil prices above $125/barrel — is creating a secondary poverty shock in Sub-Saharan Africa through the food security channel. Higher energy costs raise fertilizer production costs, which reduces agricultural yields, which directly impacts household food security for the roughly 60-70% of SSA workers employed in agriculture. The World Bank estimates that sustained high energy costs could push 15-30 million additional people below the $2.15 threshold in SSA by 2027, partially reversing recent gains. This transmission mechanism — oil price → fertilizer cost → food production → household income — is less visible than headline GDP growth but more directly relevant to extreme poverty outcomes in agriculture-dependent economies.

Evidence on what reduces extreme poverty most reliably has improved significantly. Direct cash transfer programs show consistent, measurable poverty reduction: Brazil's Bolsa Família, India's PM-Kisan agricultural transfer, and Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) all demonstrate sustained poverty reduction at scale. Key success factors: transfers large enough to matter (above 15-20% of household consumption), regular and predictable disbursement, and pairing with healthcare and nutrition access. Economic growth alone does not automatically reach the extreme poor — in many high-growth African economies, poverty rates have declined more slowly than GDP growth would imply, due to inequality in how growth distributes. Source: World Bank March 2026 Global Poverty Update; IMF WEO April 2026.

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