In 2021, about 1 in 10 people lived on less than $2.15 a day, using international poverty lines. The picture also includes multidimensional deprivation, where the UNDP OPHI Multidimensional Poverty Index counts people as poor if they face at least 33% of weighted deprivations across health, education, and living standards. Across crises, those deprivations overlap with food insecurity, weak services, and displacement.
Key Takeaways
- The world poverty target under the UN is to reduce the proportion of men, women, and children living in poverty in all its dimensions (Sustainable Development Goal 1)
- In 2019, an estimated 648 million people lived under the international poverty line of $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (World Bank estimates)
- In 2020, an estimated 689 million people lived under the international poverty line of $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (World Bank estimates)
- Extreme poverty fell by 10 percentage points globally between 1990 and 2015 (from about 36% to about 10%)
- A 2020 study estimated that COVID-19 could push up to 150 million people into poverty globally (World Bank/UN/others modeling results widely reported)
- The IMF reported in 2020 that global GDP could fall by about 4.4% in 2020, a macro shock associated with higher poverty risks
- The UNDP/OPHI Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is calculated for people living in 111 developing countries
- The global MPI uses 10 indicators across 5 dimensions: health, education, and living standards (with sub-dimensions)
- A person is considered multidimensionally poor if they are deprived in at least 33% of weighted indicators
- In 2023, UNICEF estimated that 333 million people were facing severe food insecurity and this is associated with elevated poverty risk
- The World Bank reports that social assistance programs can reduce poverty; cash transfers are among the most cost-effective interventions
- The ILO and UNICEF report that cash transfers are typically designed to cover a significant share of basic needs; program designs often target poverty reduction by providing regular income support
Despite progress, hundreds of millions still live in extreme poverty and face overlapping food, health, and sanitation deprivations.
Related reading
01 · Category
Poverty Levels29 stats
01
The world poverty target under the UN is to reduce the proportion of men, women, and children living in poverty in all its dimensions (Sustainable Development Goal 1)
02
In 2019, an estimated 648 million people lived under the international poverty line of $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (World Bank estimates)
03
In 2020, an estimated 689 million people lived under the international poverty line of $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (World Bank estimates)
04
In 2022, the World Bank estimated that 2.4 billion people were living in poverty at $3.65 a day (2017 PPP)
05
By 2030, under a range of scenarios, the World Bank projections indicate the number of people in extreme poverty could reach around 500 million (model estimate range)
06
In 2021, about 189 million people (age 0–17) were living in extreme poverty (UNICEF analysis using World Bank poverty lines)
07
In 2021, around 400 million children were living in poverty at $3.65/day (2017 PPP), per UNICEF analysis
08
In 2021, approximately 1 in 10 people were living on less than $2.15a day worldwide
09
In 2021, the UNDP/OPHI Multidimensional Poverty Index covers 111 countries and accounts for deprivations in 5 dimensions and 10 indicators
10
In 2019, 1.1 billion people were multidimensionally poor, using the MPI intensity measure (UNDP/OPHI)
11
In 2022, the World Bank projected extreme poverty reduction under baseline would mean 8.0% globally in 2021 and decreasing gradually afterwards (projection framework)
12
1 in 10 people were in extreme poverty in 2019 (World Bank global poverty profile using $1.90/day then updated)
13
In 2021, about 10.1% of the population in low-income countries lived in extreme poverty
14
In 2021, about 28.5% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa lived in extreme poverty (World Bank regional estimate)
15
In 2020, extreme poverty in low-income countries rose to 9.7% of their populations (World Bank)
16
In 2021, extreme poverty in fragile and conflict-affected settings remained about 15–20% of the population (World Bank fragility poverty context)
17
In 2021, about 54% of the world’s extreme poor people lived in fragile and conflict-affected settings (World Bank)
18
In 2021, 74% of extreme poor people were in rural areas (World Bank rural poverty context)
19
In 2021, 26% of extreme poor people were in urban areas (World Bank rural-urban context)
20
In 2021, about 2.2 billion people were food insecure (FAO/IFAD/UNICEF/WFP/WHO report) with at least moderate food insecurity
21
In 2023, 333 million people were facing severe food insecurity (FAO/WFP/partners report)
22
In 2022, 45.4 million people were internally displaced due to conflict and violence globally (IDMC figure)
23
In 2023, 117.3 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide (UNHCR)
24
In 2022, 33% of the population in developing countries lacked basic sanitation services (WHO/UNICEF JMP)
25
In 2022, 673 million people practiced open defecation globally (WHO/UNICEF JMP)
26
In 2022, 2.2 billion people lacked safely managed drinking water services (WHO/UNICEF JMP)
27
In 2022, 1.8 billion people lacked safely managed sanitation services (WHO/UNICEF JMP)
28
In 2022, 1.6 billion people lacked electricity access globally (IEA/WHO joint reporting referenced in tracking reports)
29
In 2022, 675 million people lacked access to electricity (IEA/World Bank/SDG7 tracking)
Interpretation
Poverty Levels Interpretation
Despite efforts, extreme poverty and its overlapping deprivations remain widespread, with 689 million people living under $1.90 a day in 2020 and about 2.2 billion people lacking safely managed drinking water and 1.8 billion lacking safely managed sanitation in 2022.
02 · Category
Poverty Drivers20 stats
01
Extreme poverty fell by 10 percentage points globally between 1990 and 2015 (from about 36% to about 10%)
02
A 2020 study estimated that COVID-19 could push up to 150 million people into poverty globally (World Bank/UN/others modeling results widely reported)
03
The IMF reported in 2020 that global GDP could fall by about 4.4% in 2020, a macro shock associated with higher poverty risks
04
In 2022, global inflation averaged about 8.8% (World Bank commodity and macro context affecting cost-of-living poverty)
05
Food prices rose sharply in 2022; the FAO Food Price Index averaged 158.6 in 2022 (annual average)
06
The FAO Food Price Index reached 159.7 points in March 2022 (monthly value) amid the food crisis
07
In 2021, conflict displaced about 33.3 million people internally and 5.0 million across borders (UNHCR/IDMC displaced figures) increasing poverty exposure
08
In 2022, the world saw 228 million people in need of humanitarian assistance (UN OCHA Global Humanitarian Overview figure)
09
In 2023, 339 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance and protection (OCHA Global Humanitarian Overview 2024/2023 framing)
10
In 2022, 2.4 billion people lacked access to legally protected social services (World Bank/ILO social protection coverage constraints)
11
In 2021, 222 million people were living in countries with high debt distress risk (IMF/World Bank macro conditions context)
12
In 2021, about 55% of global biodiversity loss risk is driven by land-use change that also affects rural livelihoods and poverty (IPBES linkage)
13
In 2022, 90% of countries reported that at least one-third of their population lacked access to basic sanitation, tied to health poverty risk (WHO)
14
In 2021, 1 in 3 people globally did not have access to adequate food (FAO, SOFI report context)
15
In 2022, global estimates show that 2.4 billion people were moderately or severely food insecure (FAO SOFI)
16
In 2022, 879 million adults were food insecure (FAO SOFI 2023 provides adult food insecurity breakdown)
17
In 2022, 150.8 million children under 5 years were stunted globally (UNICEF/WHO/World Bank joint estimates)
18
In 2022, 45.0 million children under 5 years were wasted globally (UNICEF/WHO/World Bank joint estimates)
19
In 2022, 148.1 million children under 5 years were overweight globally (UNICEF/WHO/World Bank joint estimates)
20
In 2022, 22.3% of children under 5 years were stunted globally (UNICEF/WHO/World Bank estimates)
Interpretation
Poverty Drivers Interpretation
Despite extreme poverty dropping from about 36% to about 10% between 1990 and 2015, repeated crises are still pushing hundreds of millions into harder conditions, with 339 million people needing humanitarian help in 2023 and 2.4 billion people moderately or severely food insecure in 2022.
More related reading
03 · Category
Poverty Measurement13 stats
01
The UNDP/OPHI Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is calculated for people living in 111 developing countries
02
The global MPI uses 10 indicators across 5 dimensions: health, education, and living standards (with sub-dimensions)
03
A person is considered multidimensionally poor if they are deprived in at least 33% of weighted indicators
04
The MPI intensity is reported as the average proportion of deprivation among multidimensionally poor people
05
The MPI value is computed as H (incidence) × A (intensity) × 100
06
The World Bank’s poverty estimates use household survey microdata (with survey-weighted distribution of consumption or income)
07
The Gini index for many countries is computed from household income or consumption distributions (World Bank method) used to analyze inequality-driven poverty
08
The World Bank’s poverty headcount ratio (P0) is the share of people below a poverty line
09
The poverty gap index (P1) measures the mean shortfall from the poverty line as a percentage of the line
10
The squared poverty gap index (P2) reflects inequality among the poor (severity and distribution of shortfalls)
11
The UNICEF Child Poverty report uses a child poverty measurement approach aligned with the $2.15/day and other lines (2017 PPP)
12
Child poverty data commonly defines children in poor households using poverty lines applied to household resources
13
The World Bank’s poverty estimates and PIP also produce uncertainty bands for poverty incidence using survey-to-survey and estimation errors
Interpretation
Poverty Measurement Interpretation
Across 111 developing countries, the MPI counts people as multidimensionally poor when they are deprived in at least 33 percent of 10 weighted indicators, and the average deprivation among them is then combined with this incidence to produce the overall MPI value, while World Bank poverty measures based on household survey data also emphasize how depth and severity of shortfalls below the poverty line vary through P1 and P2.
04 · Category
Policy & Outcomes26 stats
01
In 2023, UNICEF estimated that 333 million people were facing severe food insecurity and this is associated with elevated poverty risk
02
The World Bank reports that social assistance programs can reduce poverty; cash transfers are among the most cost-effective interventions
03
The ILO and UNICEF report that cash transfers are typically designed to cover a significant share of basic needs; program designs often target poverty reduction by providing regular income support
04
A 2019 World Bank paper estimated that female education completion can increase earnings by about 10–20% (education returns context tied to poverty reduction)
05
The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months to reduce child malnutrition and poverty-related outcomes
06
In 2022, Global Partnership for Education reported that countries increased education financing; donor commitments were €1.7 billion for GPE 2021 replenishment (policy finance)
07
The GAVI Alliance reported that in 2022, 90% of eligible children under 1 were receiving immunizations in supported countries (coverage outcomes)
08
The Gavi results site reports that in 2022, 70 million children were vaccinated (Gavi annual outcomes)
09
The Global Fund reported that it supported 28 million people with antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2022 (outcome indicator)
10
The World Bank’s Human Capital Project estimated that investing in health and education can raise productivity; countries typically target HCI improvements measured against 14-year-olds’ future earnings potential
11
The HCI framework measures what a child born today can expect to achieve by age 18; it is expressed as a fraction of maximum productivity
12
In 2017, WHO estimated that reducing poverty-linked risk factors could save millions; however, a measurable indicator is that 829 million people still lacked basic health services in 2019 (WHO/World Bank Universal Health Coverage monitoring)
13
In 2020, the World Bank estimated that poverty reduction is supported by improvements in governance and economic growth, with specific cash transfer programs reducing poverty headcount ratios in evaluated pilots by 20–30% (impact evaluation meta)
14
The Lancet reported that education interventions can improve learning outcomes by 0.10 to 0.20 standard deviations per year, affecting future earnings and poverty risk (meta-analysis range)
15
UNICEF and partners reported that school feeding can increase enrollment and attendance; typical measured impacts include attendance gains of several percentage points in evaluated programs
16
In 2023, the World Bank estimated IDA supported 19 countries with safety nets and jobs programs under COVID-19 response scale-up (programmatic outcomes)
17
The World Bank’s Results Framework reports 1.2 billion people reached by health or social protection services through projects (global aggregation)
18
The SDG 1.2.1 indicator tracks poverty reduction across countries; progress is monitored using national poverty lines and international lines (UN metadata)
19
The WHO estimates that universal health coverage could reduce catastrophic health expenditure incidence by measurable fractions; however specific global metric: 1 billion people spend at least 10% of household budget on health costs (WHO/World Bank)
20
The Global Partnership for Education reports it has financed education in 84 countries (policy implementation scale metric)
21
The World Bank reports that IDA commitments target human development outcomes including education and health with measurable indicators such as number of students supported (project results)
22
GPE’s 2021 replenishment included $2.8 billion in grant commitments (measurable donor finance) supporting education access to reduce poverty
23
UNICEF estimates that school closures during COVID-19 affected 1.6 billion learners worldwide (education loss increases poverty risk)
24
The World Bank reports that social protection can reduce the poverty headcount ratio by several percentage points depending on program coverage and transfer size (modeling evidence summary)
25
The SDG 1.4.1 metric monitors access to basic services; it is measured by national definitions of basic services (UN metadata)
26
SDG 1.5.1 tracks resilience to shocks for the poor using poverty and vulnerability metrics (UN metadata)
Interpretation
Policy & Outcomes Interpretation
Across recent years, major poverty and human development efforts have reached enormous numbers, such as about 333 million people facing severe food insecurity in 2023 and 1.2 billion people reached through health or social protection services, while cash transfers and expanded education and health financing are repeatedly shown as practical routes to cut poverty.
Reference
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APA
Priyanka Sharma. (2026, February 13). Global Poverty Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/global-poverty-statistics
MLA
Priyanka Sharma. "Global Poverty Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/global-poverty-statistics.
Chicago
Priyanka Sharma. 2026. "Global Poverty Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/global-poverty-statistics.
Sources & references
53 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+30 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)