The World’s Most Deprived
Characteristics and Causes of Extreme Poverty and Hunger
Trends in Global $1 a Day Poverty (by region, 1990-2004)
- The dollar-a-day poverty line is the measure used to assess the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG), which is to halve the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day and suffering from hunger between 1990 and 2015.
- The proportion of the developing world’s population living on less than $1 a day fell from 28.7 percent in 1990, the base year for the MDGs, to 18 percent in 2004.
- From 1990 to 2004, the number of people living on less than $1 a day fell from 1.25 billion to 969 million.
- At this rate of progress, the poverty target for the first MDG will be met in 2015 at the global level. However, regional progress has been uneven.
- By 2004, East Asia and the Pacific’s share of the world’s poor decreased by more than half to only 17 percent (169 million people), South Asia’s share increased to almost 50 percent (446.2 million), and Sub-Saharan Africa’s share increased to 31 percent (298.2 million).
- East Asia and the Pacific met and exceeded the poverty MDG, with the dollar-a-day poverty rate in the region falling from 29.9 percent in 1990 to 9.1 percent in 2004.
- In 1990, South Asia and East Asia and the Pacific had the same number of people living on less than $1 a day, but by 2004, the latter region had 307 million fewer.
- Between 1990 and 2004, the number of poor people decreased by a modest 33 million in South Asia, and increased by about 2.4 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, and by a staggering 58 million in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Source: “The World’s Most Deprived: Characteristics and Causes of Extreme Poverty and Hunger,” IFPRI, 2007.