Here is the latest revision from the World Bank on global poverty.
There is still so much to do but it can be done. Remember – if every Christian gave another 1% of their income to micro enterprise organisations such as Opportunity International then we could improve the living conditions of the poorest 1 billion people by 50% in under 1 year
Read on and let me know what you think
Andrew
In August 2008, the World Bank presented a major overhaul to their estimates of global poverty, incorporating what they described as better and new data.
The World Bank’s long-held estimate of the number of people living on the equivalent of $1 a day has now been changed to $1.25 a day.
The World Bank also adds that the previous $1 a day estimate for the international poverty line would have been $1.45 a day at 2005 prices if only inflation was accounted for.
The revised estimates include a lot more recalculations and the $1 a day measure used in some of the charts below are therefore not to be confused with the old $1 a day measure, and where available, a $1.45 measure is also provided as well as a more current $1 a day measure. (Because some developing countries also have poverty lines at $2 and $2.50 a day, those are also shown, where available.)
At a poverty line of $1.25 a day, the revised estimates find
* 1.4 billion people live at this poverty line or below
* This is more than the previous estimate of 984 million with the older measure of a $1 a day in 2004
* In 1981, the estimated number of poor was also revised upward, from 1.5 billion to 1.9 billion
The World Bank notes that “the incidence of poverty in the world is higher than past estimates have suggested. The main reason is that [previous data] had implicitly underestimated the cost of living in most developing countries.”
The data also does not reflect the recent global food crisis and rising cost of energy, which is feared will bring another 100 million into poverty.
Accounting for the increased population between 1981 and 2005, the poverty rate has, however, fallen by about 25%.
While this at least sounds encouraging, it masks regional variations, and perhaps most glaringly the impact of China:
* China’s poverty rate fell from 85% to 15.9%, or by over 600 million people
* China accounts for nearly all the world’s reduction in poverty
* Excluding China, poverty fell only by around 10%
As a result, the World Bank feels that while China is on target to reach the Millennium Development Goals to reduce poverty and tackle various other issues, most other countries are not.
Here are the World Bank’s new estimates of poverty at different poverty levels:
This article taken from Anup Shah, Poverty Around The World, GlobalIssues.org, Last updated: Wednesday, September 03, 2008
