Global poverty is the worldwide lack of material possessions or income to satisfy basic human needs.

Poverty is a multidimensional concept, incorporating a number of different factors which impact the lives of the poor. The World Bank uses an international poverty line of $1.90 a day (adjusted for local purchasing power), and estimates that, in 2013, 10.7% of the world’s population lived below this line.^[1] Lack of economic resources has direct consequences on many other aspects of life, including food security and access to healthcare and water services.

Cash transfers and deworming programs are generally regarded as highly cost-effective interventions for reducing extreme poverty.

Further reading

Kaufman, Jeff (2015) Why global poverty?, Jeff Kaufman’s Blog, August 11.

Ravallion, Martin (2016) The Economics of Poverty: History, Measurement, and Policy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Roser, Max & Esteban Ortiz-Ospina (2013) Global extreme poverty, Our World in Data, May 25 (updated 2019).

Related entries

economic growth | food security | global health and development | poverty trap

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World Bank (2016) Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking on Inequality, Washington: World Bank.