Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
Poverty - statistics & facts
Poverty is reducing around the world. This is especially down to the reduction of poverty in East Asia, where the economic growth of China has contributed to lifting millions out of poverty. Despite these positive developments, as of 2024, the global poverty rate stood at roughly 10 percent. Moreover, the rate increased slightly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and high inflation in subsequent years reduced the purchasing power of many around the world. Countries with the highest poverty rate are all located in Sub-Saharan Africa, where millions do not have enough income to feed their families.
The limitations of the global poverty line
Poverty refers to the lack of money or material possessions needed to meet basic needs and/or an adequate living standard. The definition of poverty varies over time; as of June 2025, the World Bank's international poverty line is set at 3.00 U.S. dollars a day in terms of 2021 Purchasing Power Parities, up from a previous threshold of 2.15 dollars. Moreover, national poverty levels vary greatly. For instance, while the poverty rate in the United States shows that about 11 percent of the population lived in poverty in 2024, this is not necessarily comparable to the poverty rate in Sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 46 percent of the population lived on less than 3.00 dollars a day, as a person residing in the United States will need a far higher level of income to afford a basic standard of living.
Furthermore, measuring the share of people living below the poverty line has some limitations as it does not take the depth of poverty into account. Hence, if the 85 percent of the population in the Democratic Republic of Congo living on less than 3.00 U.S. dollars a day becomes even poorer, the share will remain the same. Therefore, using the worldwide poverty gap to measure the severity of poverty, i.e. how far below the poverty line the average poor person falls, the data shows that the poverty gap has decreased from about 27 percent in 1990 to under seven percent in 2024.
Beyond income: the many faces of deprivation
Poverty is usually divided into absolute and relative poverty. Absolute poverty concerns basic human needs such as food, water, sanitation, and shelter. Relative poverty, on the other hand, relates to whether a person can afford a certain standard of living and participate in social life. The many different dimensions of poverty are interrelated. For instance, the share of undernourished people worldwide has been gradually declining but still stood at an estimated eight percent in 2024. The Multidimensional Poverty Index shows that Sub-Saharan Africa bears the highest burden across health, education, and living-standard deprivations, while lack of access to clean cooking fuel and adequate housing affects the most people among the multidimensionally poor. Researchers have found that to fight global poverty effectively, the many dimensions of the phenomenon must be addressed simultaneously.
Wealth gaps that deepen the divide
Finally, poverty is interrelated with wealth inequalities. In 2024, roughly 36 percent of the world's collected net personal wealth belonged to the richest one percent. Moreover, many countries with the greatest inequality in income distribution worldwide also rank among the poorest. This points to a pattern where relative poverty deepens in middle- and high-income countries, while absolute poverty remains most dominant in low-income nations.
