Extreme poverty is defined as living below the global extreme poverty line, set at $2.15 per day. In 2024, it is estimated that 8.5% of the world’s population—692 million people—lived in extreme poverty, according to the latest data from the World Bank.
Over the past two decades, over one billion people have escaped extreme poverty. However, the data also shows progress over the last years since the COVID-19 pandemic has been slow. Compared to 2019 an estimated 8 million more people are living in extreme poverty.
Most regions have made progress in reducing extreme poverty
Since the start of the millennium, all regions except the Middle East & North Africa have seen declining shares of people living in extreme poverty. The largest reductions have come in East Asia and the Pacific, where the poverty rate has declined from 40% in 2000 to under 1% in 2022.
Despite the overall global progress, it is estimated that over a third of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa lived in extreme poverty in 2024. The region accounts for over 400 million of the global population living in extreme poverty.
Almost all countries with high extreme poverty rates are in Sub-Saharan Africa
Most countries with extreme poverty rates above 15% are in Sub-Saharan Africa. The highest extreme poverty rates can be found in Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique.
Democratic Republic of the Congo (73M), Nigeria (62M) and India (52M) are the three countries with the highest number of people living in extreme poverty.
About the data
The source of the data used in this tracker is the World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform.
Changelog
- Updated in October 2024 with new data from the World Bank.
- Updated March 2024 with new data for 2019-2022 from the World Bank.
- Updated September 2023 with the latest projections from the UN SDG 2023 progress report.
- Updated March 2023 with the latest global and regional estimates from the World Bank.
- Initial release October 2022.