The Great Escape: Historical Success

Historic Achievement: In just 30 years, extreme poverty fell by 65% - the fastest reduction in human history. Economic growth, particularly in China and India, lifted over 1 billion people above the $2.15/day threshold.

What's Next: But this progress reveals a new challenge - millions who escaped extreme poverty remain precariously close to falling back. Page 2 explores this 'vulnerability zone.'

Insight: While fewer people live in extreme poverty today, nearly 3 billion still live on less than $10 a day. These people remain vulnerable to inflation, job loss, and health shocks.

The charts highlight the sharp rise in the 'vulnerable zone' — people who have escaped extreme poverty but lack safety nets.

Poverty Isn’t Just About Money

Pages 1 & 2 show poverty is improving. But many still lack essentials like:

• Healthcare,Education,Water & sanitation,Electricity

In Niger, 99% lack clean cooking fuel — poverty runs deeper than dollars.

Takeaway: Economic growth must be paired with social investments — poverty is about people’s lives, not just their incomes.

References

Roser, M., Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Ritchie, H. (2023). Total population in extreme poverty . Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/total-population-in-extreme-poverty

Roser, M., Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Ritchie, H. (2023). Distribution of population by poverty thresholds . Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/distribution-of-population-poverty-thresholds

Roser, M., Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Ritchie, H. (2023). Daily income or consumption of the poorest 10% . Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/daily-income-or-consumption-of-the-poorest-10-marimekko

Roser, M., Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Ritchie, H. (2023). Share living on less than $10/day . Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-living-on-less-than-10-marimekko

Roser, M., Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Ritchie, H. (2023). Distribution between different poverty thresholds (stacked bar) . Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/distribution-of-population-between-different-poverty-thresholds-stacke-bar

Roser, M., Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Ritchie, H. (2023). Poverty thresholds by country (2020) . Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/distribution-of-population-between-different-poverty-thresholds-stacke-bar

Roser, M., Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Ritchie, H. (2023). Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) . Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/multidimensional-poverty-index-mpi

Roser, M., Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Ritchie, H. (2023). Multidimensional Poverty Index – Indicator breakdown . Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/multidimensional-poverty-index