This archive report was first published on 10 June 2020.
On June 9, 2020, the World Bank issued a warning that the number of people living in extreme poverty could remain unchanged in 2021, despite a projected rebound in global economic growth.
The bank's projection comes after it reported that the pandemic could drive between 70 and 100 million people into extreme poverty in 2020, marking the worst recession in 80 years.
Before the pandemic, extreme poverty had been decreasing, with people living on $1.90 per day.
However, the countries with the highest shares of the world's extremely poor are not projected to grow faster than their population, meaning that extreme poverty will remain at elevated 2020 levels through 2021.
According to the World Bank, Nigeria, India, and the Democratic Republic of Congo – three countries home to more than a third of the world's poor – are predicted to have per-capita growth rates in real GDP of -0.8 per cent, 2.1 percent, and 0.3 per cent, respectively.
With population growth rates of 2.6 per cent, 1.0 per cent, and 3.1 percent, this is hardly enough for sustainable decreases in the poverty headcount.
The bank also warned that South Asia may see a larger increase in the number of poor as a result of Covid-19, particularly in India, where two-thirds of the 176 million people expected to be pushed below the $3.20 per-day poverty line reside.
