Until Now
EconomicsCivilisation

Extreme poverty falls

The share of humanity in extreme poverty drops from around two thirds to under a tenth.

When
Duration
70 years
Known to
± 5 years
Era
Contemporary, Holocene

In 1950 roughly two thirds of the world lived in what is now measured as extreme poverty; by the 2010s the share had fallen below ten per cent even as population tripled. Most of the reduction is in East and South Asia, and China alone accounts for a large share. Progress stalled in the 2020s and remains concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, and the measure itself is contested as being set too low.

Just before

Just after