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Global Poverty

Tracking extreme poverty, impoverished populations, and progress toward SDG Goal 1 with official data from the World Bank, UN, and UNDP.

839M In Extreme Poverty (2024)
10.1% Global Poverty Rate (2025)
1.1B Multidimensional Poverty
Key Insights

Understanding
Global Poverty

Progress Has Slowed

After decades of steady decline, extreme poverty reduction slowed dramatically after 2020. COVID-19 pushed 50 million more people into poverty—the first major reversal in a generation.

Regional Concentration

Sub-Saharan Africa represents just 16% of global population but accounts for 67% of the world's extreme poor. In 2024, 46% of people in the region lived in extreme poverty.

Climate & Poverty Overlap

Nearly 8 in 10 people living in multidimensional poverty (887 million) are directly exposed to climate hazards like extreme heat, flooding, or drought—compounding their hardship.

Children Most Affected

Over half of those living in multidimensional poverty are children. Poor children face deprivations in nutrition, education, health, housing, and sanitation simultaneously.

1 SDG Goal

No Poverty

End poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030

Key Targets:

  • 1.1: Eradicate extreme poverty (currently <$3.00/day at 2021 PPP)
  • 1.2: Reduce poverty by half according to national definitions
  • 1.3: Implement social protection systems for all
  • 1.4: Ensure equal rights to economic resources and basic services
  • 1.5: Build resilience of the poor to climate and economic shocks

2030 Outlook: At current trajectories, 7.3% of the world will still live in extreme poverty by 2030—far from the zero poverty goal.

Explore SDG 1 in Detail
Data Visualization

Poverty
in Charts

Official data from the World Bank, UNDP, and UN tracking extreme poverty, multidimensional poverty, and regional trends.

Extreme Poverty

Global Extreme Poverty Rate (1990–2025)

Percentage of global population living below $3.00/day (2021 PPP)

Updated Feb 2026
Show data table
Global Extreme Poverty Rate (1990–2025)
Extreme Poverty Rate (%)
199036
199530.2
200026.8
200520.4
201015.7
201510.5
20199.2
20209.9
20219.4
20229
202310.3
202410.2
202510.1
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2025)

Key Insight: Extreme poverty fell from 36% in 1990 to 10.1% in 2025, lifting over 1.5 billion people out of poverty. However, progress stalled during COVID-19 and remains too slow to meet the 2030 SDG target.

Regional Analysis

Extreme Poverty Rate by Region (2024)

Share of population living below $3.00/day (2021 PPP)

Updated Feb 2026
Show data table
Extreme Poverty Rate by Region (2024)
Poverty Rate (%)
Sub-Saharan Africa46
South Asia11.2
Middle East & North Africa6.5
Latin America & Caribbean3.8
East Asia & Pacific1.2
Europe & Central Asia0.9
Source: World Bank (September 2025 Update)

Key Insight: Sub-Saharan Africa has the world's highest poverty rate at 46.0%, while East Asia & Pacific achieved the lowest at 1.2% thanks largely to China's poverty eradication success.

Population

Poor People by Region (2024)

Millions living in extreme poverty

Feb 2026
Show data table
Poor People by Region (2024)
Millions in poverty
Sub-Saharan Africa562
South Asia200
East Asia & Pacific45
Middle East & North Africa28
Latin America & Caribbean18
Other9
Source: World Bank (2025)
Multidimensional

Dimensions of Poverty (2025)

Common deprivations among the poor

Feb 2026
Show data table
Dimensions of Poverty (2025)
% of poor affected
Cooking Fuel73
Sanitation68
Housing65
Electricity58
Nutrition54
Education51
Health47
Source: UNDP Global MPI Report (2025)
SDG Progress

Progress Toward Zero Poverty by 2030

Actual vs. required trajectory to meet SDG Goal 1

Updated Feb 2026
Show data table
Progress Toward Zero Poverty by 2030
Actual TrajectoryRequired for SDG Target
201510.510.5
20179.87.9
20199.25.3
20219.42.6
202310.30
202510.1–
20279.2–
20298.1–
20307.30
Source: World Bank, UN SDG Report (2025)

Key Insight: At current rates, 7.3% of the world will remain in extreme poverty by 2030—far from the SDG target of zero. An acceleration in efforts is urgently needed.

Related Topics

Explore More
on Poverty

Extreme Poverty

Deep dive into the $3/day poverty line, measurement methods, and who the extreme poor are.

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Regional Trends

Compare poverty rates and progress across Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and more.

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Multidimensional Poverty

Beyond income: health, education, living standards, and the Global MPI framework.

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Child Poverty

Over half the multidimensionally poor are children. Explore data on child deprivation worldwide.

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Climate & Poverty

How climate hazards intersect with poverty—887M poor exposed to extreme heat, floods, and drought.

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Poverty Reduction

What works? Case studies from China, India, and countries that cut poverty rates dramatically.

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The Working Poor

700 million people are employed but live in poverty. Why jobs alone are not the answer.

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Cash Transfer Programmes

The dominant modern anti-poverty tool: Bolsa Família, BISP, GiveDirectly, and the RCT evidence base.

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Social Safety Nets

Coverage and spending around the world. Who is protected, who is left out, and what universal protection would require.

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Food Insecurity

2.4 billion food insecure people. FAO measurements, FIES scale, and the post-pandemic reversal.

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Housing Poverty & Homelessness

1.1 billion in slums and informal settlements; 100M+ homeless globally. Two faces of the housing-poverty crisis.

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Women and Poverty

The gendered dimension: unpaid care work, asset gaps, and why headline data understates the gender-poverty gap.

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Global Inequality

The elephant curve, between-country vs within-country, and where global inequality is heading.

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Time Poverty

The hidden dimension of poverty: time-stressed households, women's double burden, and what income measures miss.

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Wealth Mobility

Intergenerational mobility, the Great Gatsby curve, and why the US is less mobile than Northern Europe.

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Youth Poverty

NEET status, school-to-work transition, and the long-tail effects of youth unemployment on lifetime earnings.

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Working Conditions of the Poor

2.8 million work-related deaths a year. Informal labor, occupational safety, and child labor.

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Poverty by Age

Children, working age, and elderly poverty patterns across countries.

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Urban vs Rural Poverty

Rural poverty 3× higher than urban globally. The spatial dimension of deprivation.

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Poverty and Education

The intergenerational cycle. How educational attainment and family background interact across generations.

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Microfinance

Grameen Bank, microcredit, and the RCT evidence that has moderated original poverty-escape expectations.

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Methodology

Data
Sources

All poverty statistics on this page are drawn from official, peer-reviewed sources:

  • World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform: Primary source for extreme poverty rates using the international poverty line ($3.00/day at 2021 PPP as of June 2025)
  • UNDP Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): 2025 report covering 109 countries and 1.1 billion people in multidimensional poverty
  • UN SDG Database: Official monitoring of SDG Goal 1 indicators and national poverty lines
  • World Bank Regional Classifications: September 2025 update with new regional groupings

Note on poverty lines: The World Bank updated the international poverty line to $3.00/day (2021 PPP) in June 2025, replacing the prior $2.15/day (2017 PPP) threshold. Historical data has been revised to reflect this change.

World Bank PIP Poverty & Inequality Platform
United Nations SDG indicators & monitoring
UNDP & OPHI Multidimensional Poverty Index
ICP Purchasing Power Parities