Date: 2024-05-15 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00017314
World Poverty
Global Data
World Poverty in Numbers
Peter Burgess
To understand the scope of what half the world’s population face, here is what poverty looks like, in numbers:
- 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 per day, including 1.2 billion people in extreme poverty who live on less than $1.25 per day.
- About 75% of the world’s poor populations live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood.
- In developing countries, the poor spend 60-80% of their income on food. Americans spend less than 10%.
- Over 800 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat and 3 million children die from malnutrition each year.
- Approximately 1.2 billion people live without electricity.
- 40 million children worldwide live without adequate shelter.
- More than 750 million people lack adequate access to clean water.
- 270 million children have no access to health services
- Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read or write.
- 2 billion people do not have a bank account or access to basic financial services.