The World Bank projected the portion of the world living in extreme poverty will fall below 10 percent this year, the lowest rate ever. In a statement, the Bank said the projections were “fresh evidence that a quarter-century-long sustained reduction in poverty is moving the world closer to the historic goal of ending poverty by 2030.” The Bank sets the international poverty line at the equivalent of $1.90 a day. Some 702 million people, or 9.6 percent of the world population, are in poverty this year, the Bank projects, compared to 902 million people, or 12.8 percent, in 2012.
Strong growth rates in developing countries along with investments in education and health and social safety nets have reduced the prevalence of poverty, said World Bank president Jim Kim. But many of the world’s poor live in fragile regions or war-torn areas.
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to half of the poor people in the world, the reversal of conditions in 1990 when East Asia held that distinction “Poverty is declining in all regions but it is becoming deeper and more entrenched in countries that are either conflict ridden or overly dependent on commodity exports,” said the Bank.