Global Poverty and Inequality
đź“šWhat You Will Learn
- How global poverty is measured and why the poverty line changed.
- Where poverty is concentrated and who is most affected.
- How inequality shapes opportunities even when economies are growing.
- What forces are driving progress and setbacks in the fight against poverty.
đź“ťSummary
đź’ˇKey Takeaways
- Around 1 in 10 people worldwide are estimated to live in extreme income poverty, using the updated global poverty line of 3 dollars a day.
- Poverty is increasingly concentrated in sub‑Saharan Africa and in countries affected by conflict and fragility.
- Inequality is rising within many countries as billionaire wealth grows far faster than wages for ordinary workers.
- Multidimensional poverty shows that over 1 billion people lack basics like clean cooking fuel, housing, sanitation, or electricity.
- Climate change, pandemics, and economic shocks risk slowing or reversing recent gains against poverty.
Global efforts have lifted more than a billion people out of extreme poverty since 1990, yet recent data show progress slowing and, in some places, reversing. After revising the global poverty line to 3 dollars a day in 2025, estimates suggest roughly 800 million people still live in extreme poverty, close to one in ten people on Earth.
The burden of poverty is not evenly shared across regions. Sub‑Saharan Africa now accounts for the majority of people living in extreme poverty, and fragile or conflict‑affected countries make up a growing share of the global poor.
Income alone cannot capture the full reality of deprivation, which is why researchers track multidimensional poverty across health, education, and living standards. The 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index reports that about 1.1 billion people face acute deprivations such as lack of clean cooking fuel, sanitation, adequate housing, nutrition, or electricity.
Many of these people live in middle‑income countries where national averages hide deep internal divides. Children are disproportionately affected, meaning poverty today can lock in disadvantage for the next generation through poor nutrition, missed schooling, and unsafe environments.
While extreme poverty remains widespread, global wealth has grown rapidly and become more concentrated at the top. Recent inequality analyses show billionaire fortunes increasing by trillions of dollars in just a few years, even as low‑income households struggle with rising prices and weak wage growth.
High inequality shows up not only between countries but within them. In some advanced economies, relative poverty rates remain in the double digits, and large wealth gaps limit social mobility, fueling public frustration and political tension.
A series of overlapping crises—pandemics, wars, debt distress, and food and energy price spikes—has slowed or reversed poverty reduction since 2020. Tens of millions of people were pushed back into extreme poverty in the early years of the COVID‑19 crisis, and many countries have yet to fully recover.
Climate change multiplies these risks by damaging crops, homes, and livelihoods, especially for people already living on the edge. New estimates suggest that hundreds of millions of poor people are exposed to at least one major climate hazard, such as floods, heatwaves, or storms.
Despite these challenges, evidence points to what works: inclusive growth, investments in health and education, social protection, and policies that narrow inequality. Countries that expanded cash transfers, universal health coverage, and quality schooling have made faster progress in reducing both income and multidimensional poverty.
At the global level, stronger international cooperation on debt relief, climate finance, and fairer taxation of extreme wealth could unlock resources to support poorer countries. The choices governments, businesses, and citizens make in the coming years will determine whether the world moves closer to a future where where birth no longer decides a person’s chances of living a healthy, dignified life.
⚠️Things to Note
- Global poverty estimates were revised upward in 2025 after the international poverty line was updated to 3 dollars a day in 2021 purchasing power terms.
- Eradicating extreme poverty by 2030 is now considered highly unlikely under current trends.
- Most people in multidimensional poverty live in middle‑income countries, not the very poorest states.
- Even in rich countries, pockets of high poverty and deep wealth inequality persist.