Adopted in 2015 by all United Nations (UN) members, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a global agenda for making the world a better place by 2030. They are described by the UN as a ‘shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet‘, and goals are to be achieved by all countries, in global partnership, by 2030.
This page provides a selection of visualisations on global and regional trends for Sustainable Development Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
The visualisations use the latest official data from the United Nations SDG Global Database.
Target 1.1
By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.
Indicator:
| 1.1.1 | Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line |
Extreme poverty is defined as living below the international poverty line, currently set at $2.15 per person per day (in comparable international prices).
Over the past decades, the share of people living in extreme poverty has declined. In 2019 about 8% of the world’s population—648 million people—lived in extreme poverty, compared to almost 30% in 2000, according to the latest official data. This means that over 1.1 billion people have escaped extreme poverty over the past two decades.
The COVID-19 pandemic has, however, had a severe impact on the progress made in recent decades, and the World Bank estimates that extreme poverty rose for the first time in a generation in 2020.
Since then poverty reduction has resumed in 2021, but the outlook for 2022 is uncertain due to rising food and energy prices. According to the World Bank, this could cause 2022 to be the second-worst year for poverty reduction, after 2020, in the last 22 years.
It is now estimated that some 574 million people—7% of the global population—will live in extreme poverty in 2030, far off the global target set in the Sustainable Development Goals of reducing the extreme poverty rate to below 3% (255 million people).
Despite the overall global progress, over a third of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa lived in extreme poverty in 2019. The region accounts for 389 million—60%— of the global population living in extreme poverty.
Note that the regional groupings used in the visualisation above (and all other visualisations on this page with regional data) follow the UN regional classification for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Target 1.2
By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
Indicators:
| 1.2.1 | Proportion of population living below the national poverty line |
| 1.2.2 | Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions |
Whereas target 1.1 is concerned with extreme poverty, an absolute measure of poverty, target 1.2 is aimed at reducing poverty according to nationally set poverty lines. Such poverty lines will differ from country to country in terms of definition.
Overall, according to the latest UN data for 2020, only 27% of countries had managed to reach the target of halving the share of the population living below their nationally set poverty lines. In 52% of countries, poverty rates have declined by less than half, whereas in 22% of countries it increased. The regions where most progress has been made are Central Asia and Southern Asia as well as Eastern Asia and South-eastern Asia.
If current trends continue, the UN estimates that only 40% of countries will reach the target of halving poerty by 2030.
Note that this data only covers 68 countries with set national poverty lines and available data.
Target 1.3
Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable
Indicators:
| 1.3.1 | Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems |
This target recognises the vital role of social protection in preventing and reducing poverty. Social protection can come in many forms aimed at protecting peoples jobs, health and incomes.
Globally, 47% of the world population is covered by at least one social protection benefit in 2020. This means that around 4 billion people are unprotected worldwide, and thus can recieve no income security from social protection systems.
There are significant differences in social protecion coverage between regions. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where poverty is most prevalent, only 14% are covered, whereas over 8 out of 10 are covered in most high-income countries.
Although many countries implemented new social protection measures as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all of them (95%) were temporary according to the UN. This shows that there is a wide gap to be closed over the next decade to reach the 2030 target.
Target 1.4
By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance
Indicators:
| 1.4.1 | Proportion of population living in households with access to basic services |
| 1.4.2 | Proportion of total adult population with secure tenure rights to land, (a) with legally recognized documentation, and (b) who perceive their rights to land as secure, by sex and type of tenure |
Access to basic services is a crucial part of efforts to alleviate poverty. The aspects of basic services covered by target 1.4 are the proportion of people using basic drinking water services and basic sanitation services. Significant progress has been made worldwide over the last decades in increasing access to such basic services.
Even though water access has increased, in 2020 some 771 million were without basic access to water services, half of which live in sub-Saharan Africa. A larger number, 1.7 billion, were without even basic sanitation. According to the UN, "achieving universal access to safely managed sanitation by 2030 will require a quadrupling of current rates of progress."
The target of access to basic services also encompasses peoples’ land and property rights. This is measured by the proportion of the total adult population with secure tenure rights to land, (a) with legally recognized documentation, and (b) who perceive their rights to land as secure, by sex and type of tenure. As of June 2021, 34 countries had reported data on this target, which is set to be further developed in 2022.
Target 1.5
By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters
Indicators:
| 1.5.1 | Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population |
| 1.5.2 | Direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP) |
| 1.5.3 | Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 |
| 1.5.4 | Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies |
The poorest are often the most vulnerable when facing shocks and disasters. Building resilience to such events is therefore an important part of the efforts to end poverty. A central aim of target 1.5 is therefore to build resilience through adoption of disaster risk reduction strategies at a national and local level.
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most severe disasters the world has experienced for decades, with devastating impact on societies worldwide. The pandemic has reversed the progress made from 2015 to 2019 in decreasing the number of deaths caused by disasters (disaster-mortality rate).
In 2020, a total of 80 countries reported nearly 300 000 deaths caused by disasters, of which the vast majority was related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this figure is according to the UN, significantly underreporting deaths caused by the pandemic, with the World Health Organization estimating 4.5 million excess deaths caused by the pandemic at the end of 2020.
Only 33 countries have reported data on indicator 1.5.2 concerning economic losses, this indicator is therefore not discussed further.
In terms of indicators 1.5.3 and 1.5.4 concerning risk reduction strategies, 123 countries had implemented national disaster risk reduction strategies in 2021 in accordance with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. This is an increase from 55 countries in 2015.
The Sendai Framework is part of the UNs effort to assist member countries take action to prevent the creation of new risk, reduce existing risk and increase resilience.
97 out of the 123 countries adoption national level strategies, had also done so at local government levels.
Target 1.a
Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions
Indicators:
| 1.a.1 | Total official development assistance grants from all donors that focus on poverty reduction as a share of the recipient country’s gross national income |
| 1.a.2 | Proportion of total government spending on essential services (education, health and social protection) |
This target has both a national and international component. At the national level, it looks at the proportion of total government spending going to essential services, including education, health and social protection.
At the international level, it looks at the share of development assistance that focuses on poverty reduction, as a share of the recipient country's gross national income.
Both aspects are difficult to measure progress on at the global level, and there are no set benchmarks set towards 2030.
Target 1.b
Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions
Indicators:
| 1.b.1 | Pro-poor public social spending |
As with target 1.a, there is no set benchmark to gauge the performance of this target. This target is set to be further developed by UNICEF.
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About the data
The data presented on global and regional trends are from the UN SDG Global Database.
Changelog
- First release November 2022