In 2021, following the global recession of 2020, economies began to recover and extreme poverty levels were lower than before the pandemic in more prosperous regions by 2022. These regions included East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, advanced countries, Europe and Central Asia, and South Asia. However, globally, poverty levels were slightly higher in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Despite this progress, the uneven and slower economic recovery from the pandemic was evident in Sub-Saharan Africa, where over half of the extreme poor reside. Another global shock in 2022 was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which contributed to rising inflation in countries of all income levels. Despite these challenges, at the $3.65 and $6.85 poverty lines, the global poverty rate in 2022 was lower than in 2019.
In March 2024, an update on global poverty was released by the World Bank that incorporated updated data on consumer price index (CPI), national accounts (GDP), and population. The revision revised global and regional poverty estimates from 1981 to 2023. The methodology for aligning regional and global poverty estimates was also updated, resulting in minor changes. The data showed that global and regional poverty trends at three different absolute poverty lines of World Bank: $1.90/day or $37 per year; $3/day or $75 per year; $6/day or $153 per year; Table 1 summarizes revisions to regional and global poverty estimates between September 2019 and March 1
