World Bank — Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) March 2026 Update (PRIMARY · blogs.worldbank.org · directly fetched · March 26, 2026 · 847M confirmed · PIP version 20260324) · UN SDG Progress Report 2026 (PRIMARY · unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2026/Goal-01/ · 2 weeks ago) · UNDP Global MPI 2024 (PRIMARY · undp.org · October 2024)
Global Development · Poverty Geography · 2026 Data
Mapped: The Geography of
Global Poverty
847 million people live in extreme poverty as of 2024 — surviving on less than $2.15 a day. That number fell from nearly 2 billion in 1990. But progress has stalled. The global rate is only three percentage points below where it was in 2015. Just two world regions account for almost all of it. The Democratic Republic of the Congo holds 85% of its people in extreme poverty — and 75% of the world’s cobalt.
847M
people in extreme poverty · 2024 · $2.15/day · down from 2 billion in 1990 · World Bank PIP March 2026 primary
46%
Sub-Saharan Africa poverty rate · “stubbornly high” · WB primary verbatim · holds the majority of global extreme poor
~9%
projected global rate in 2030 · SDG target is 0% · “only 3pp below 2015 averages” in 2026 · UN SDG 2026
800M
people China lifted out of extreme poverty · from 66% in 1990 to under 0.1% today · “largest poverty reduction in human history”
Visualization 01 — Poverty by World Region · 2024 Data
Just Two Regions Account for Almost All Extreme Poverty
Extreme poverty rate (% living below $2.15/day, 2017 PPP) by world region, 2024. The World Bank confirms: “all but two regions have extreme poverty rates below 5 percent.” Bars scaled to Sub-Saharan Africa’s 46% rate. Tap any row for details. Sources: World Bank PIP — March 2026 Update (PRIMARY · blogs.worldbank.org · directly fetched · March 26, 2026) · World Bank PIP — September 2025 Update (PRIMARY) · UN SDG Progress Report 2026 (PRIMARY).
🌍 Sub-Saharan Africa
Crisis · 46%
The most severe poverty concentration on Earth. Every country in the global top 10 worst rates is in this region. “Stubbornly high” — World Bank verbatim. SSA only returned to pre-COVID poverty levels in 2025.
46.0%
Poverty rate (2024)
46.0% — revised up from 45.1%
World Bank September 2025 PIP update. The upward revision was driven by new Nigeria survey data. Eastern and Southern Africa are the most severely affected sub-regions.
DRC — worst single country
85.3% poverty rate (2020 data)
The DRC has the world’s highest extreme poverty rate and the largest absolute number of poor: 76.2 million people — despite producing approximately 75% of global cobalt supply.
COVID impact
Only back to pre-COVID levels in 2025
World Bank primary (March 2026): “Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to bring the extreme poverty rate back to pre-Covid levels only in 2025” — the longest COVID recovery of any region.
Why rates remain high
Conflict + climate + population growth
South Sudan, DRC, Somalia face ongoing conflicts. The Sahel faces recurring droughts. Africa’s population is growing faster than poverty rates are declining — meaning total numbers in poverty can rise even as the rate falls.
🌏 Middle East, N. Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (MENAAP)
Only region worsening ↑
The World Bank confirmed in March 2026: “the only region where the extreme poverty rate has increased in recent years.” Yemen, Afghanistan, and the revised Pakistan estimates are the key drivers.
14.4%
Rate increase (March 2026 revision)
11.8% → 14.4% · +21 million people
New Pakistan survey data drove a major upward revision. Pakistan was not covered in the September 2025 vintage. Its inclusion added 21 million to the regional count.
Key crisis countries
Yemen · Afghanistan · Gaza · Syria
Decade-long conflicts have destroyed economic capacity. Yemen: 50%+ poverty rate driven by war since 2015. Afghanistan: poverty rose sharply after 2021 Taliban takeover.
🌏 South Asia
Rapid progress · <5%
India: from 46% poverty rate in 1990 to under 1% today. One of history’s fastest poverty reductions in a democracy. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka also show strong progress. Pakistan’s recent data revision pushed regional averages up.
<5%
India’s transformation
From 46% (1990) to under 1% (2024)
India’s poverty reduction — nearly 400 million people lifted — is one of history’s largest absolute declines. Achieved through economic growth, social programmes, and direct transfers.
Remaining challenges
Working poor · near-poor at $3/day line
At the $3.00/day line (the World Bank’s updated June 2025 threshold), significantly more South Asians remain vulnerable. The near-poor are highly exposed to shocks like floods and inflation.
🌎 Latin America & Caribbean
Progress · ~3%
Significant progress but with notable exceptions: Venezuela’s economic collapse and Haiti’s chronic instability keep pockets of extreme poverty entrenched in the Western Hemisphere’s most vulnerable states.
~3%
Regional picture
~3% regional average · ~20M extreme poor
Brazil, Mexico, and most of South America have reduced extreme poverty to low single digits. Haiti remains the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country at approximately 60% poverty rate.
🌏 East Asia & Pacific
Near eliminated · 1.2%
The world’s greatest poverty reduction story. China moved from 66% extreme poverty in 1990 to under 0.1% today. The East Asia & Pacific region’s 1.2% rate represents the floor of what income growth can achieve.
~1.2%
China’s extraordinary result
66% (1990) → under 0.1% (2024)
Approximately 800 million people lifted out of extreme poverty in 35 years — the largest poverty reduction in human history. Driven by manufacturing-led growth, urbanisation, and targeted rural development programmes.
Remaining pockets
Papua New Guinea · Pacific islands
PNG and some Pacific Island nations have significant poverty rates (PNG: ~50% at $3.20/day). These are exceptions in an otherwise dramatically improved region.
🌍 Europe & Central Asia · 🌎 North America
Eliminated · <1%
Both regions have reduced extreme poverty ($2.15/day) to effectively zero at the population level. Note: national poverty lines, inequality, and material deprivation remain significant issues in many European and North American countries — but not at the international extreme poverty threshold.
<1%
Important context
Different poverty problem — not zero
Europe and North America have effectively eliminated extreme poverty at the $2.15/day threshold, but have high relative poverty at national poverty lines. The US federal poverty line is more than 20× the international extreme poverty threshold in absolute terms.
Visualization 02 — The Long Arc of Poverty Reduction · 1990 to 2030
From 36% to 10% in 35 Years — and Why 0% by 2030 Is Impossible
The global poverty rate has fallen dramatically since 1990. But the pace has slowed sharply since COVID, and the remaining 10% is concentrated in the world’s hardest-to-reach places. Sources: World Bank PIP (PRIMARY · March 26, 2026 · directly fetched) · UN SDG Progress Report 2026 (PRIMARY · unstats.un.org) · World Bank Poverty and Prosperity Report 2024.
1990
36%
36% of Humanity — Nearly 2 Billion People — Live in Extreme Poverty. The Scale Is Staggering.
In 1990, roughly 36% of the global population — close to 2 billion people — lived on less than what is now equivalent to $2.15 per day. Poverty was concentrated across Asia as well as Africa. India had a 46% poverty rate. China had a 66% poverty rate. Sub-Saharan Africa was severe but not yet the dominant share of the global total. The Cold War had just ended. The SDGs did not yet exist. And the economic forces that would lift hundreds of millions — export-led growth in East Asia, the rise of China’s manufacturing sector — were just beginning.
36% global rate (~2B people)China: 66% · India: 46%SSA: severe but not dominant
1990–2019
Progress
The Greatest Poverty Reduction in Human History. China Lifts 800 Million. The Rate Falls to ~10%.
Between 1990 and 2019, the global extreme poverty rate fell from 36% to roughly 10% — a reduction without historical precedent. The primary engine was China. Its manufacturing-led growth model, combined with targeted rural poverty programmes, lifted approximately 800 million people above the poverty line in three decades. India followed, reducing its rate from 46% to single digits. East and Southeast Asia broadly transformed. Sub-Saharan Africa made slower progress — but even there, rates declined. By 2015, the UN’s SDG framework set an ambitious goal: end extreme poverty by 2030.
China: 800M lifted · largest in historyIndia: 46% → single digits36% → ~10% in 29 years
2020–22
COVID
COVID Pushes 70 Million Back Into Poverty in Two Years. Sub-Saharan Africa Takes the Hardest Hit.
The pandemic erased years of progress. Approximately 70 million people were pushed into extreme poverty between 2020 and 2022 — the largest single setback to global poverty reduction since tracking began. Sub-Saharan Africa was hit disproportionately hard. The World Bank’s March 2026 primary update confirmed that the region “is estimated to bring the extreme poverty rate back to pre-Covid levels only in 2025” — meaning the recovery took five years. The MENAAP region, already stressed by conflict in Yemen and Afghanistan, also deteriorated further.
COVID: +70M in povertySSA: 5-year recovery lagMENAAP: additional stress
2024–26
Stalled
The Rate Stalls at 10%. “Only 3 Percentage Points Below 2015 Averages.” The World Bank Counts 847 Million.
The World Bank’s March 2026 update — directly fetched from worldbank.org — confirmed that 847 million people live in extreme poverty as of 2024, at a rate of 10.4%. The nowcast projects 10.0% in 2026. The UN SDG Progress Report 2026 noted this is “only three percentage points below 2015 averages.” In eleven years of SDG tracking, the world has moved the needle by just three percentage points. The remaining extreme poor are concentrated in the hardest places — active conflict zones, climate-vulnerable agricultural communities, and countries with the weakest institutions. These are the people for whom standard development tools work least well.
10.4% in 2024 · 847M people“Only 3pp below 2015” · UN SDGMENAAP: only region worsening
2030
Gap
The UN Target Is 0%. The Projection Is 9%. Four in Five of Those Still in Poverty Will Be in Sub-Saharan Africa or Conflict States.
The SDG framework committed to ending extreme poverty by 2030. The UN SDG Progress Report 2026 — the most authoritative assessment available — projects that about 9% of the world will still be in extreme poverty in 2030, and that “four in five of them” will be “in sub-Saharan Africa or in fragile and conflict-affected countries.” The 2030 target is 0%. The projection is ~700-750 million people still below the poverty line. This is not a failure of definition or measurement. It is a failure of the economic, political, and institutional conditions that poverty reduction requires.
Target: 0% by 2030Projection: ~9% · ~700-750M“4 in 5” in SSA or conflict states
Poverty is not evenly distributed. That is the most important fact about it. The reduction from 36% to 10% since 1990 represents one of humanity’s most significant achievements. But the geography of the remaining 10% is stark. It is concentrated in places defined by conflict, climate vulnerability, and extractive economies that generate wealth without distributing it. The DRC is the most extreme example.
World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) · PRIMARY · blogs.worldbank.org · directly fetched · March 26, 2026
847M
“As of 2024, 847 million people are estimated to live in extreme poverty.” The global rate is 10.4% — and “all but two regions have extreme poverty rates below 5 percent.” — World Bank, March 2026
The two exceptions are Sub-Saharan Africa (46.0%) and the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan region (14.4%). Every other world region has effectively driven extreme poverty below 5% — Europe, North America, East Asia, South Asia, Latin America. The global poverty challenge is therefore not a diffuse global problem. It is a concentrated regional crisis, with SSA as its epicentre. The 847 million figure uses the $2.15/day threshold (2017 PPP). In June 2025 the World Bank updated its headline poverty line to $3.00/day (2021 PPP), which includes an additional 125 million people in the count when applied.
Source: World Bank — “March 2026 global poverty update from the World Bank: New data and updated poverty numbers” (PRIMARY · directly fetched · blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/march-2026-global-poverty-update · March 26, 2026 · authors: Lønborg, Viveros, Castaneda Aguilar, Lakner, Lara Ibarra, Nguyen · “As of 2024, 847 million people are estimated to live in extreme poverty” · “10.4 percent” rate · “10.0 percent in 2026” nowcast · “all but two regions have extreme poverty rates below 5 percent” · PIP version 20260324)
“The global extreme poverty rate stands at 10 per cent in 2026, only three percentage points below 2015 averages.”
— UN SDG Progress Report 2026 (PRIMARY · unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2026/Goal-01/ · 2026)The Resource Curse — The DRC Has 85% Poverty and 75% of the World’s Cobalt
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the starkest illustration of a development paradox. It has the world’s highest extreme poverty rate — 85.3% of its population living on less than $2.15 a day — and the largest absolute number of people in extreme poverty of any country: 76.2 million. At the same time, the DRC produces approximately 75% of the world’s cobalt. Cobalt is essential for the lithium-ion batteries that power smartphones, electric vehicles, and AI data centres. The DRC holds the resources that are driving the clean energy transition — yet its people are the world’s poorest. Weak governance, armed conflict spanning decades, and multinational extraction without domestic value creation explain the gap. The DRC is not poor because it lacks resources. It is poor because those resources have been extracted without building the institutions, infrastructure, or legal frameworks that translate natural wealth into human wellbeing.
Why it matters: the DRC’s cobalt paradox is not unique — it is the extreme version of a pattern repeated across SSA. Natural resource wealth without institutional capacity does not reduce poverty. It often entrenches it.
World Bank PIP · PRIMARY · March 2026 · UN SDG 2026 · MENAAP Regional Data
14.4%
The Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAAP) region is “the only region where the extreme poverty rate has increased in recent years” — World Bank verbatim, March 2026. New Pakistan data added 21 million to the count.
Every other world region has made progress on extreme poverty over the past decade. MENAAP is the exception. Yemen’s decade of civil war, Afghanistan’s economic collapse following the 2021 Taliban takeover, and Gaza’s humanitarian crisis have all contributed to rising poverty in the region. The March 2026 World Bank update also incorporated new survey data from Pakistan that revised the regional rate upward from 11.8% to 14.4% — adding 21 million people to the poverty count. This is not a data revision creating the problem; it is new data finally capturing it.
Source: World Bank — March 2026 PIP Update (PRIMARY · directly fetched · “The Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan region is the only region, where the extreme poverty rate has increased in recent years” · “upward revision in the extreme poverty rate of the region in 2024 from 11.8 percent in the September 2025 data vintage to 14.4 percent in the March 2026 vintage” · “additional 21 million people”)
What Actually Works — and Why China’s 800 Million Cannot Simply Be Repeated
The largest poverty reduction in human history came from economic growth. China’s manufacturing sector absorbed hundreds of millions of rural workers into formal employment. Export-led growth generated tax revenue that funded rural health and education. Urbanisation created productivity gains. The Chinese government also ran targeted poverty programmes in the final phase, including transferring hundreds of millions of people above the poverty line through direct intervention. The lesson is not that any country can replicate China’s specific model. It is that sustained economic growth — the kind that generates employment for low-skill workers — remains the primary mechanism for reducing extreme poverty. The regions failing on poverty are largely those where economic growth is slow, informal, or captured by elites. The UNDP’s multidimensional poverty measure — which counts 1.1 billion people as poor when incorporating health, education, and living standards alongside income — extends the picture. Many of those 1.1 billion live in countries where income growth has occurred but health systems, schools, and clean water still fail.
Why it matters: the SDG 2030 target of zero extreme poverty will not be met. The question for 2030-2050 is whether the remaining 700-800 million people in extreme poverty are reached by the same mechanisms that worked for 1.5 billion others — or whether conflict, climate change, and institutional failure require fundamentally different approaches.
World Bank / UNDP Global MPI 2024 · PRIMARY · undp.org · October 2024
1.1B
1.1 billion people live in multidimensional poverty across 109 countries — a broader measure that counts deprivation in health, education, and living standards, not just income. More than half of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The UNDP’s Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2024 goes beyond the $2.15/day income threshold to measure whether people lack access to basic necessities. A person is considered multidimensionally poor if they are deprived across at least one-third of weighted indicators covering nutrition, child mortality, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, and assets. The MPI’s 1.1 billion compares to the World Bank’s 847 million income-poor — the gap reflects the reality that millions who have crossed the income line still lack basic services. Social protection has reached a major milestone: for the first time, more than half the global population was covered by at least one social protection benefit in 2023. But 3.8 billion remain unprotected.
Source: UNDP — Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2024 (PRIMARY · undp.org · October 2024 · “1.1 billion people in multidimensional poverty” · 109 countries) · UN SDG Progress Report 2026 (PRIMARY · “For the first time, more than half the global population was covered by at least one social protection benefit in 2023” · “3.8 billion people remain unprotected”)
Key Numbers at a Glance
Scale · World Bank 2024
847M
People in extreme poverty in 2024 ($2.15/day). Down from nearly 2 billion in 1990. Global rate: 10.4%. Projected: 10.0% in 2026 (World Bank nowcast).
World Bank PIP (primary · directly fetched)
Region · Sub-Saharan Africa
46%
SSA poverty rate in 2024 — “stubbornly high.” Only returned to pre-COVID levels in 2025. All 10 countries with the world’s worst extreme poverty rates are in SSA.
World Bank PIP Sept 2025 (primary)
SDG Gap · 2030 Target
~9%
Projected 2030 poverty rate. SDG target is 0%. “Four in five” people still in poverty in 2030 will be in Sub-Saharan Africa or fragile states — UN SDG 2026.
UN SDG Progress Report 2026 (primary)
Success · China
800M
People China lifted out of extreme poverty — from 66% in 1990 to under 0.1% today. “The largest poverty reduction in human history.” The model that drove global progress.
World Bank / Our World in Data
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people live in poverty in the world in 2025 and 2026?
847 million people were estimated to live in extreme poverty in 2024 (less than $2.15 per day, 2017 PPP), according to the World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform March 2026 update — the most recent primary data available (directly fetched, worldbank.org, March 26, 2026). The global rate is 10.4% in 2024, projected to fall to 10.0% in 2026. In June 2025, the World Bank updated its headline poverty line to $3.00 per day (2021 PPP), which when applied adds approximately 125 million to the count.
Which country has the highest poverty rate in the world?
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has the world’s highest extreme poverty rate at approximately 85.3% of its population (World Bank PIP, 2020 data — the most recent available). It also has the largest absolute number of extremely poor people of any country: approximately 76.2 million. Paradoxically, the DRC produces roughly 75% of the world’s cobalt supply — the essential mineral for lithium-ion batteries. All ten countries with the world’s highest extreme poverty rates are in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to World Bank data.
What percentage of the world lives in poverty by region?
Sub-Saharan Africa: 46.0% (highest globally, 2024). Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAAP): 14.4% (the only region where poverty has increased recently). South Asia: under 5% (dramatically improved, led by India). Latin America: ~3%. East Asia and Pacific: ~1.2% (near eliminated, driven by China’s 800 million lifted). Europe and North America: under 1%. The World Bank confirmed: “all but two regions have extreme poverty rates below 5 percent.” Source: World Bank PIP March 2026 (primary, directly fetched).
Will the world end poverty by 2030 as promised in the SDGs?
No. The UN SDG Progress Report 2026 states the global extreme poverty rate stands at 10% in 2026 — “only three percentage points below 2015 averages.” The UN projects approximately 9% of the world will still be in extreme poverty in 2030, and that “four in five” of those people will be in Sub-Saharan Africa or fragile, conflict-affected countries. The SDG target is 0% by 2030. At current trajectory, the world will miss it by approximately 700-750 million people. Source: UN SDG Progress Report 2026 (primary).
How did China reduce poverty so dramatically?
China lifted approximately 800 million people out of extreme poverty between 1990 and 2024 — the largest poverty reduction in human history — reducing its rate from 66% to under 0.1%. The mechanism was primarily export-led manufacturing growth that created mass employment for rural workers, combined with targeted government programmes including rural development, subsidised healthcare, and direct poverty transfers in the final phase. China’s poverty reduction accounts for most of the global decline from 36% (1990) to 10% (2024). Without China’s contribution, the global progress would look dramatically smaller.
