Poverty - Statistics and Indicators

Statistics and Indicators


Statistics and Indicators See World Bank Regions (1.5mb pdf) In the past two decades, the number of people living below the $1.25 and $2.0 poverty lines has fallen. Most of the fall is driven by countries in East Asia & Pacific region. In fact, other regions in the world saw an increase in the number of people living below the $ 1.25 poverty line despite the decline in poverty rates. The percentage of people living below $1.25 a day fell in every region except in Europe and Central Asia. China led the way by reducing its poor population by 475 million people. While in 1990, 37% of the world's poor were found in China by 2005 the number had declined to 15%. China managed to attain the first Millenium Development Goal (MDG) almost 15 years in advance. The rest of the developing world will not attain the first MDG if it does not reduce its poverty at a higher pace. Learn more Internationally Comparable Indicators National Poverty Lines Millennium Development Goals Prospects for the Global Economy Doing Business Principal Global Indicators The percentage of the population below the poverty line. It is the most commonly used poverty indicator. However, it does not tell us how far the poor are below the poverty line. A measure of the "depth" of poverty. It is based on both the percentage of the population below the poverty line and the average income of the poor relative to the poverty line. It ranges between 0 and 100%. The larger it is, the deeper the poverty. It measures both the depth of poverty (like the Poverty Gap) and also inequality among the poor. It gives more weight to those who are farther below the poverty line. The higher it is the more severe is poverty among the poorest people. It ranges from 0 to 1 and measures inequality. 0 represents perfect equality: every individual having the same amount of income. Most of the consumption Gini indexes range from 0.3 to 0.6. Country at a Glance Tables PovcalNet World Development Indicators Poverty Data Labor and Employment Data UNU-WIDER World Income Inequality Database United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) International Labour Organization Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) The Data Visualizer is now available to create charts using the most widely used and official development data

Last updated: 2010-05-05

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