Sustainable Development Goal 1
Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1), titled "No Poverty," constitutes the initial objective among the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with the core aim of eradicating poverty across all dimensions—including extreme deprivation of basic needs—by the year 2030.[1] The goal encompasses seven targets, including the elimination of extreme poverty defined as living on less than $2.15 per day (adjusted for purchasing power parity), halving the proportion of individuals in multidimensional poverty, implementing nationally appropriate social protection systems, ensuring equal rights to economic resources, and building resilience against economic, social, and environmental shocks.[2] Indicators track progress via metrics such as the prevalence of extreme poverty, coverage of social protection floors, and access to basic services, with monitoring coordinated by entities like the World Bank and national statistical offices.[1] Global extreme poverty has declined substantially since 1990, from approximately 36 percent of the population to around 8.5 percent (affecting nearly 700 million people) as of the latest estimates, largely attributable to rapid economic expansion and market-oriented reforms in countries like China and India rather than direct interventions tied to the SDGs.[3] However, post-2015 progress has stagnated, with the COVID-19 pandemic reversing gains by pushing an additional 70 million into extreme poverty, compounded by conflicts, climate events, and inflationary pressures, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where rates exceed 35 percent.[4] Projections indicate that the 2030 target will not be met, with over 600 million people expected to remain in extreme poverty, highlighting challenges in low-income countries where recovery lags and growth insufficiently targets the poorest.[5] Critics contend that SDG 1's framework underemphasizes causal factors such as secure property rights, rule of law, and free-market incentives—which drove prior reductions—while prioritizing expansive government programs and aid that may foster dependency without addressing governance failures.[6] The goal's broad scope risks diluting focus, as trade-offs emerge between poverty alleviation and other SDGs like environmental regulations that could constrain economic growth essential for lifting populations out of destitution.[7] Despite partial successes in expanding social protections in some regions, the absence of binding mechanisms and overreliance on voluntary national efforts underscore the limitations of top-down global targets in overcoming entrenched barriers like corruption and policy distortions.[8]Origins and Framework
Historical Context of Poverty Reduction Efforts
International poverty reduction efforts originated in the post-World War II period with the establishment of the Bretton Woods institutions, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) in 1944, initially aimed at rebuilding war-torn Europe but expanding to support development in poorer countries by the late 1940s.[9] The United Nations contributed through the creation of the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance in 1949, which merged with the Special Fund in 1965 to form the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), focusing on technical aid and capacity building in developing nations.[10] By the 1970s, amid recognition that over 40% of people in developing countries lived in absolute poverty, the World Bank redirected lending toward rural development, basic infrastructure, and social services to directly target poverty.[11] The United Nations formalized development strategies through its International Development Decades, starting with the first in 1961, which prioritized a minimum 5% annual growth rate in developing economies, followed by the second decade (1971-1980) that introduced a "basic human needs" strategy emphasizing employment, food, shelter, and health to alleviate poverty.[12] Grassroots momentum built in the 1980s, culminating in the 1987 assembly of over 100,000 people in Paris to commemorate victims of hunger and poverty, leading to the UN General Assembly's declaration of October 17 as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty in 1992.[13] The 1990s saw the World Bank and IMF introduce Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) in 1999, requiring countries to develop homegrown plans for aid eligibility, while the UN designated 1997-2006 as the First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty.[14][15] Empirical data indicate that substantial global poverty declines prior to these formalized efforts, particularly from the 1980s onward, were primarily driven by economic growth and market-oriented reforms in Asia, such as China's opening in 1978 and India's liberalization in 1991, rather than solely international aid or UN initiatives, with poverty rates falling faster before the 2000 Millennium Development Goals than during their implementation period.[16][17] These national-level causal factors—trade integration, property rights, and investment—underscore that while institutional frameworks provided coordination, endogenous economic policies were key to observed reductions, from 38% of the world's population in extreme poverty in 1990 to lower levels by 2000.[18]Adoption and Rationale Within Agenda 2030
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1) on ending poverty, was unanimously adopted by all 193 United Nations Member States on September 25, 2015, via General Assembly Resolution A/RES/70/1 during the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in New York.[19] This followed an intergovernmental negotiation process initiated after the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), where an Open Working Group drafted the 17 goals and 169 targets over two years of consultations involving governments, civil society, and experts.[19] SDG 1 was explicitly positioned as the first goal to underscore poverty eradication's role as a cornerstone of the framework, with the goals entering into force on January 1, 2016.[20] The primary rationale for SDG 1 lay in the Agenda's preamble assertion that "eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development," positioning it as foundational to achieving dignity, equality, and prosperity for all.[19] This built directly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which had halved the global extreme poverty rate from 36% in 1990 to about 10% by 2015, reducing the number of affected individuals from 1.9 billion to approximately 736 million living below the international poverty line of $1.90 per day (in 2011 purchasing power parity). Yet, uneven progress—concentrated in regions like sub-Saharan Africa—and the recognition that poverty perpetuated vulnerabilities to shocks, inequalities, and barriers to other development outcomes necessitated a more ambitious, universal target to eliminate it entirely by 2030.[20] By prioritizing multidimensional aspects beyond income, such as access to resources and social protection, SDG 1 aimed to address poverty's interconnections with economic growth, resilience-building, and resource mobilization, while mobilizing domestic and international financing for pro-poor policies.[20] The goal's targets, including halving national poverty rates and implementing social protection systems, reflected data-driven imperatives from pre-adoption assessments showing poverty's role in stalling human potential and sustainable progress.[19]Definition and Scope of SDG 1
Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1), titled "No Poverty," seeks to end poverty in all its forms and manifestations everywhere by 2030.[5] Adopted unanimously by all 193 United Nations member states on September 25, 2015, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the goal builds on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by expanding the focus from primarily developing countries to a universal framework applicable to all nations.[1] It recognizes poverty not only in monetary terms but also through deprivations in health, education, and living standards, aiming to address root causes such as economic inequality, vulnerability to shocks, and lack of access to resources.[21] The scope of SDG 1 is defined by seven targets that outline specific, measurable outcomes, including the eradication of extreme poverty—measured as living on less than $2.15 per day in 2017 purchasing power parity (PPP) terms—and halving the proportion of people in multidimensional poverty according to national definitions.[5] Additional targets emphasize implementing appropriate social protection systems for all, ensuring equal rights to economic resources and basic services, building resilience against disasters and shocks, mobilizing resources for poverty reduction, and establishing policy frameworks to support poverty eradication.[5] These elements integrate poverty alleviation with broader sustainable development efforts, such as economic growth and environmental sustainability, while acknowledging that progress depends on national contexts and global partnerships.[1] Indicators for SDG 1, totaling 14, track progress through data on poverty headcount ratios, social protection coverage, and resilience-building measures, primarily sourced from household surveys and national statistics compiled by agencies like the World Bank and UN DESA.[22] The goal's universal scope underscores its applicability to both low-income and high-income countries, where relative poverty and vulnerability persist despite overall wealth, challenging the notion that poverty is confined to developing regions.[21]Objectives and Targets
Core Goal: Ending Poverty Everywhere
Sustainable Development Goal 1 establishes the objective of ending poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030.[5] This encompasses eradicating extreme poverty, defined under target 1.1 as ensuring no person lives below the international poverty line of $2.15 per day, measured in 2017 purchasing power parity terms to reflect the bare minimum for survival in low-income countries.[5][4] The line, updated from $1.90 in 2011 PPP by the World Bank in September 2022, accounts for inflation and price changes across 190 countries, focusing on consumption or income thresholds for essential needs like food and non-food basics.[4] Beyond monetary metrics, the goal addresses poverty's multidimensional aspects, including lack of access to basic services, social protection, and vulnerability to shocks, though the primary indicator 1.1.1 tracks the proportion of the population below this threshold using household surveys.[5] Progress monitoring relies on data from national statistical offices and international agencies like the World Bank, which estimate that 8.5% of the global population—approximately 689 million people—lived in extreme poverty in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic reversed gains.[4] Empirical evidence attributes historical global poverty declines—from over 40% in 1981 to under 10% by 2015—primarily to rapid economic growth in countries like China and India, driven by market liberalization, trade integration, and industrialization rather than aid or regulatory frameworks alone.[23][24] Cross-country analyses confirm that sustained per capita GDP growth correlates strongly with poverty reduction, with elasticities indicating a 1% increase in mean income reducing poverty by 1-2.5% depending on initial inequality levels.[25] The ambition of universal eradication by 2030 faces realism challenges, as projections indicate persistent pockets in sub-Saharan Africa and fragile states, where conflict and weak institutions hinder growth; non-binding targets and underfunding further limit enforceability.[26][27] Achieving the goal would require accelerating growth to lift remaining populations above the line, emphasizing policies that enhance productivity and human capital over aspirational declarations.[24]Detailed Targets and Associated Indicators
Sustainable Development Goal 1 establishes seven targets aimed at eradicating poverty through measurable outcomes by 2030, with 14 associated global indicators developed by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) and adopted by the UN General Assembly.[20] These targets address income poverty, multidimensional deprivation, social protection, resource access, resilience, financing, and policy frameworks, while indicators focus on quantifiable metrics disaggregated by sex, age, and other relevant factors where feasible. Target 1.1 seeks to eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030, defined as living below the international poverty line of $2.15 per day (2017 purchasing power parity).[5] [28] The sole indicator is 1.1.1: proportion of the population living below the international poverty line, by sex, age, employment status, and geographic location (urban/rural).[20] Target 1.2 aims to reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women, and children of all ages living in poverty across all dimensions, as per national definitions.[20] Indicators include 1.2.1: proportion of the population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age; and 1.2.2: proportion of men, women, and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.[20] The latter draws on the Multidimensional Poverty Index framework, incorporating deprivations in health, education, and living standards. Target 1.3 calls for implementing nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, to achieve substantial coverage of the poor and vulnerable by 2030.[20] Indicator 1.3.1 measures the proportion of the population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims, and the poor and vulnerable.[20] Coverage encompasses benefits like child benefits, unemployment support, and disability pensions. Target 1.4 ensures equal rights for all, especially the poor and vulnerable, to economic resources, basic services, land ownership, inheritance, natural resources, technology, and financial services including microfinance by 2030.[20] Indicators are 1.4.1: proportion of the population living in households with access to basic services (water, sanitation, energy, etc.); and 1.4.2: proportion of total adult population with secure tenure rights to land, with legally recognized documentation and perceived security, by sex and tenure type.[20] Target 1.5 focuses on building resilience among the poor and vulnerable, reducing their exposure to climate-related events and other shocks and disasters by 2030.[20] Indicators include 1.5.1: number of deaths, missing persons, and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population; 1.5.2: direct economic loss from disasters relative to global GDP; 1.5.3: number of countries adopting and implementing national disaster risk reduction strategies aligned with the Sendai Framework (2015–2030); and 1.5.4: proportion of local governments adopting and implementing local strategies in line with national ones.[20] These emphasize vulnerability reduction over mere event frequency. Target 1.a ensures significant resource mobilization from diverse sources, including enhanced development cooperation, to provide predictable funding for developing countries—particularly least developed countries—to end poverty in all dimensions.[20] Indicators are 1.a.1: total official development assistance grants targeting poverty reduction as a share of the recipient country's gross national income; and 1.a.2: proportion of total government spending on essential services (education, health, and social protection).[20] Target 1.b promotes sound policy frameworks at national, regional, and international levels, grounded in pro-poor and gender-sensitive strategies, to accelerate poverty eradication investments.[20] Indicator 1.b.1 tracks pro-poor public social spending, assessed through policy coherence and budget allocation favoring low-income groups.[20] This target underscores the role of enabling environments beyond direct aid.Custodian Agencies and Monitoring Mechanisms
The primary custodian agency for SDG 1's core poverty eradication indicators, particularly 1.1.1 (proportion of the population living below the international poverty line) and 1.2.1 (proportion below the national poverty line), is the World Bank, which develops methodologies, maintains global databases, and produces annual estimates based on household survey data from national statistical offices.[29][30] For indicator 1.2.2 (proportion in moderate or severe poverty by age, sex, and multidimensional factors), the World Bank collaborates with partners to harmonize data standards.[31] Other custodians include the International Labour Organization (ILO) for 1.3.1 (coverage of social protection floors/systems), responsible for defining coverage metrics and compiling administrative data; the World Bank and UN-Habitat for 1.4.1 and 1.4.2 (access to basic services and secure tenure rights); and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) for 1.5.1 (number of countries with national disaster risk reduction strategies).[32][33] Custodian agencies operate under the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), which standardizes methodologies, classifies indicators by tier (e.g., Tier I for established methods like 1.1.1, Tier II/III for those needing further development), and ensures data comparability across countries.[33] They provide technical assistance to national statistical systems, validate data submissions, and report aggregated global progress to the UN Statistical Commission, with the World Bank leading on imputing missing data for poverty trends using statistical models.[30] Global monitoring mechanisms center on the UN Global SDG Indicators Database, maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division, which integrates custodian-submitted data for biennial reports and tracks progress against the 2030 Agenda.[34] National governments bear primary responsibility for data collection via censuses, surveys, and administrative records, reporting voluntarily through channels like the UN's High-Level Political Forum, while custodians fill gaps and address discrepancies, such as survey coverage limitations in low-income countries.[35] Challenges in monitoring include data disaggregation by vulnerable groups and timeliness, prompting initiatives like the World Bank's Poverty and Inequality Platform for real-time estimates.[4]Measurement and Data
Defining Extreme and Multidimensional Poverty
Extreme poverty, as targeted under Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1), target 1.1, refers to the condition of individuals living below the World Bank's international poverty line, which measures the minimum level of consumption necessary to meet basic food and non-food needs in the world's poorest countries. As of the June 2025 update using 2021 purchasing power parities (PPPs), this line is set at $3.00 per person per day, an increase from the prior $2.15 threshold based on 2017 PPPs, reflecting updated price data and national poverty lines from over 160 countries.[36][37] This monetary metric relies on household surveys capturing consumption or income expenditures, adjusted for purchasing power to enable cross-country comparisons, though it primarily emphasizes caloric sufficiency and essential non-food outlays like clothing and shelter.[38] Multidimensional poverty extends beyond income to assess overlapping deprivations that income measures may overlook, providing a complementary lens for SDG 1's broader aim to end poverty "in all its forms." The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), jointly produced by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), identifies acute multidimensional poverty at the household level across three dimensions: health (nutrition and child/adolescent mortality), education (years of schooling and school attendance), and standards of living (cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets, and bank account).[39][40] A household is deemed multidimensionally poor if deprived in at least one-third (33.3%) of the ten weighted indicators, with the index aggregating both the incidence (headcount ratio, H) and intensity (average deprivation score among the poor, A) of poverty via the formula MPI = H × A, yielding values from 0 (no poverty) to 1 (maximum poverty).[41] This approach, covering over 100 developing countries, highlights non-monetary barriers such as lack of sanitation affecting 1.1 billion people in 2023, even among those above monetary lines.[42] While correlated, monetary and multidimensional measures diverge empirically: extreme monetary poverty captures resource constraints but ignores direct service access, potentially understating vulnerabilities like malnutrition despite adequate spending if markets fail to deliver nutrition; conversely, multidimensional metrics can identify deprivations in upper-income contexts due to public service gaps, though causal analysis reveals income as a primary enabler for escaping deprivations via private or market solutions. In 2023, 1.1 billion people—18% of those in MPI-covered countries—lived in multidimensional poverty, compared to global extreme monetary poverty rates around 8.5% pre-2025 updates, underscoring that while overlaps exist (e.g., in sub-Saharan Africa), multidimensional poverty often exceeds monetary estimates in regions with weak infrastructure.[43][44] For SDG monitoring, the World Bank handles extreme poverty data via indicator 1.1.1, while MPI informs target 1.2's focus on national multidimensional definitions, though global MPI critiques note potential double-counting of deprivations without adjusting for income's foundational role.[45]Indicators and Data Collection Challenges
The primary indicator for Target 1.1 of SDG 1, which aims to eradicate extreme poverty, is Indicator 1.1.1: the proportion of the population living below the international poverty line, currently set at $2.15 per person per day (2017 purchasing power parity, PPP), disaggregated by sex, age, employment status, and urban/rural location. This metric relies on household consumption or income surveys conducted by national statistical offices, adjusted to international standards by the World Bank.[46] For Target 1.2, which seeks to reduce poverty in all dimensions by half, Indicators 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 measure the proportion of the population in multidimensional poverty, incorporating deprivations in health, education, living standards, and national definitions, often via indices like the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).[47] These indicators extend beyond monetary measures to capture non-income aspects, but require harmonized national data aligned with global frameworks.[48] Data collection for these indicators predominantly depends on nationally representative household surveys, such as Living Standards Measurement Surveys (LSMS) or Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), which are infrequent—often every three to five years in low-income countries—and cover only a fraction of the population due to sampling limitations.[38] In 2024, fewer than half of countries had conducted poverty-relevant surveys post-2020, exacerbating gaps amid events like the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted fieldwork.[49] Coverage is particularly deficient in fragile and conflict-affected states, where up to 80% of extreme poverty is concentrated, as insecurity prevents enumerator access and leads to under-sampling of vulnerable groups like refugees or rural nomads.[22] Self-reported consumption data introduces biases, including recall errors and underreporting of informal incomes, while urban-rural disparities in survey design can skew aggregates.[50] Methodological revisions compound comparability issues; the international poverty line was raised from $1.90 to $2.15 in September 2022 following 2017 PPP updates, and further to $3.00 in June 2025 using 2021 PPPs, which recalibrates historical estimates and reveals slower poverty declines than previously reported—for instance, global extreme poverty at the higher line stood at around 25-30% higher in recent baselines.[46][36] Multidimensional indicators face additional hurdles, as they aggregate diverse data sources (e.g., health records, school enrollment) with varying quality and availability, leading to incomplete MPIs in over 100 countries lacking recent inputs.[51] National statistical capacities in developing regions often lag, with reliance on donor-funded surveys introducing inconsistencies, and political incentives can incentivize data suppression or manipulation to portray progress, as evidenced in discrepancies between official figures and independent audits in select cases.[52] Overall, these challenges result in outdated or proxy-based estimates for up to 40% of the global population, undermining timely monitoring of SDG 1 progress.[29]Adjustments in Poverty Lines Over Time
The international poverty line (IPL), used to measure extreme poverty under SDG 1 target 1.1, represents the monetary value required to meet basic needs in the poorest countries, expressed in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.[46] The World Bank, as the custodian agency for SDG indicator 1.1.1, periodically adjusts this line to incorporate updated PPP exchange rates from International Comparison Program (ICP) benchmarks, ensuring consistency with evolving data on prices and consumption patterns across countries.[53] These revisions maintain the line's anchoring to the median national poverty lines of low-income countries but recalibrate its dollar equivalent, without altering the underlying standard of living threshold.[28]| Update Year | PPP Base Year | IPL Value (per person per day) | Key Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 1985 | $1.00 | Initial global standard introduced, anchored to poorest countries' lines.[53] |
| 2008 | 2005 | $1.25 | Revised upward with new ICP data to reflect updated PPPs.[53] |
| 2011 | 2011 | $1.90 | Further adjustment incorporating 2005-2011 ICP revisions for better cross-country comparability.[53] |
| 2022 | 2017 | $2.15 | Updated in September 2022 using 2017 ICP PPPs, increasing estimated extreme poor by approximately 70 million for 2019 compared to prior line.[46][54] |
| 2025 | 2021 | $3.00 | Announced June 2025 with 2021 ICP data, raising estimates of extreme poor from 713 million to 838 million for 2022, reflecting methodological harmonization rather than welfare decline.[36][45] |
Progress and Outcomes
Global Trends Pre- and Post-2015
Prior to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, global extreme poverty—defined by the World Bank as living below $1.90 per day in 2011 purchasing power parity (PPP) terms—experienced a marked decline. In 1990, approximately 1.9 billion people, or 36 percent of the global population, lived in extreme poverty.[62] By 2015, this figure had fallen to around 689 million people, representing 10 percent of the world population, fulfilling the Millennium Development Goal target of halving poverty from 1990 levels.[22] This reduction was primarily driven by robust economic growth in East Asia, particularly China and India, where market-oriented reforms lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty through expanded employment and income opportunities.[63] Following the 2015 baseline, the pace of poverty reduction slowed considerably even before external shocks. From 2015 to 2019, the extreme poverty rate decreased from 10.8 percent to 8.4 percent, averting an estimated 69 million people from extreme poverty during that period.[22] However, absolute numbers remained stagnant around 700 million, as population growth in high-poverty regions offset gains.[3] The World Bank's subsequent update to a $2.15 daily threshold in 2022, reflecting 2017 PPP adjustments, retrospectively raised the 2015 estimate to about 10 percent but confirmed the directional trend of deceleration.[62] The COVID-19 pandemic markedly reversed post-2015 progress, pushing an additional 71 to 124 million people into extreme poverty in 2020 alone—the first global increase since 1998.[64] [65] By 2023, estimates indicated around 712 million in extreme poverty under the updated $2.15 line, with the United Nations' 2025 report projecting 808 million, or 9.9 percent of the population, reflecting stalled recovery amid inflation, conflicts, and uneven economic rebound.[66] Sub-Saharan Africa, where poverty rates exceed 35 percent, accounted for over half of the global total post-2020, highlighting regional concentration of reversals.[63] These trends underscore that while pre-2015 gains were propelled by structural economic shifts, post-2015 outcomes have been vulnerable to exogenous disruptions, with SDG 1's 2030 eradication target now deemed unattainable at current trajectories.[3]Regional Disparities in Poverty Reduction
East Asia and the Pacific region experienced the most substantial reductions in extreme poverty since 1990, with rates falling from over 50 percent to below 1 percent by 2019, largely attributable to sustained economic growth and market-oriented reforms in China and other economies, which lifted approximately 800 million people out of poverty between 1981 and 2015.[4] In contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa has accounted for an increasing share of the global extreme poor, hosting 67 percent of the world's 700 million people living below $2.15 per day in 2024 despite comprising only 16 percent of the global population, with regional poverty rates at 46 percent that year.[3] This disparity reflects slower per capita income growth, high population expansion rates exceeding economic gains, and recurrent conflicts disrupting agricultural and trade activities.[45] South Asia demonstrated notable progress post-2000, with extreme poverty declining from around 40 percent to under 13 percent by 2020, driven by India's economic liberalization, expanded manufacturing, and agricultural productivity gains that outpaced population growth.[29] However, reversals occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, with South Asia seeing a 2.4 percentage point increase in extreme poverty rates by 2021 due to lockdowns halting informal sector employment.[67] Latin America and the Caribbean achieved moderate reductions, from 12 percent in 1990 to about 3 percent by 2019, but persistent inequality and commodity price volatility have led to stagnation, with multidimensional poverty affecting over 20 percent in some countries as of 2023.[68] The Middle East and North Africa region, while starting from lower baselines, has regressed since 2010 due to conflicts in Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere, pushing extreme poverty shares upward to 5-7 percent by 2023 and displacing millions into fragile states with limited access to basic services.[5] Europe and Central Asia maintain low rates below 2 percent, bolstered by integration into global markets and social safety nets, though post-Soviet transitions initially exacerbated rural poverty in some areas.[62] These patterns underscore that poverty declines correlate more strongly with export-led growth and institutional stability than with aid inflows or redistributive policies alone, as evidenced by East Asia's outperformance relative to aid-dependent regions like Sub-Saharan Africa.[4]| Region | Extreme Poverty Rate (1990) | Extreme Poverty Rate (2015) | Extreme Poverty Rate (2024 est.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Asia & Pacific | ~50% | ~1% | <1% |
| South Asia | ~50% | ~13% | ~10% |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | ~56% | ~41% | 46% |
| Latin America & Caribbean | ~12% | ~4% | ~3% |
| Middle East & N. Africa | ~5% | ~2% | ~6% |