poverty

Global poverty affects about 700 million people, living on less than $1.90 a day. Roughly 9% of the world’s population faces extreme deprivation, with Sub‑Saharan Africa and South Asia accounting for nearly 90% of those impacted. Pandemic‑driven setbacks have slowed progress, leaving millions vulnerable to rising costs and instability.

The Gap Between Rich and Poor Keeps Growing

Believe it or not, more progress has been made in reducing global poverty in the past five decades than in the previous five centuries, reports UNDP Today, a publication of the United Nations Development Programme. “Developing countries have halved child death rates since 1960, reduced malnutrition by one-third and raised school [enrolment] rates by one-quarter.” At the same time, the publication accepts that poverty across the world remains widespread.

The problem goes beyond poverty levels alone. Inequality within countries and between them is increasing. “Compared to one year ago,” says Catherine Bertini, executive director of the UN World Food Programme, “many more people in the world are suffering from malnutrition and hunger.” Around 840 million people in the developing world face chronic hunger. More than one billion lack access to safe drinking water, and close to 1.5 billion people survive on less than one dollar a day. Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, warns that “we are in danger of reaching a point where the world is divided not between developing and developed states, but between overdeveloped and never-to-be-developed [states].”

  • Global Poverty Statistics (Latest Available)
  • 10.3% of the world lived in extreme poverty in 2024, according to updated World Bank estimates.
  • 612 million people are currently living in extreme poverty, based on real‑time modelling from the World Poverty Clock.
  • 7.5% of the global population is living in extreme poverty right now, per World Data Lab projections.
  • Extreme poverty still affects one in ten people worldwide, according to UN SDG monitoring.
  • 8.9% of the world’s population may still be in extreme poverty by 2030 if current trends continue.
  • Over half of the world’s population now receives at least one form of social protection, yet 3.8 billion people remain uncovered.
  • The 2025 Multidimensional Poverty Index highlights overlapping climate and poverty risks, showing millions exposed to environmental hazards while lacking basic services.

Closing the gap between rich and poor may cost less than many expect. The UN estimates that an extra $9 billion a year, about $1.50 per person, would provide sanitation and clean water worldwide. It also puts the cost of basic health care and nutrition for everyone at a further $13 billion a year, roughly $2.00 per person.

These figures are large, but they look smaller next to other global spending. In one recent year, the world spent $435 billion, more than $70 per person, on advertising, and $780 billion, about $130 per person, on military needs. Narrowing the divide between the haves and the have-nots is less about finding money and more about choosing better priorities.