Share of population living in extreme poverty

What you should know about this indicator
- The data is measured in international-$ at 2011 prices – this adjusts for inflation and for differences in the cost of living between countries.
- Data after 1981 relates to household income or consumption surveys collated by the World Bank; before 1981 it is based on historical reconstructions of GDP per capita and inequality data.
Sources and processing
This data is based on the following sources
How we process data at
All data and visualizations on rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.
At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across .
Notes on our processing step for this indicator
From the share and number unable to meet basic needs available in the dataset, we can estimate the number below different "dollar a day" poverty lines. Additionally, we estimate the share and number above these poverty lines, as well between them. We also estimate the share and number of people able to meet basic needs.
Rolling averages by decade have been calculated for the original estimates before 1981, to address uncertainty in the data.
Reuse this work
- All data produced by third-party providers and made available by are subject to the license terms from the original providers. Our work would not be possible without the data providers we rely on, so we ask you to always cite them appropriately (see below). This is crucial to allow data providers to continue doing their work, enhancing, maintaining and updating valuable data.
- All data, visualizations, and code produced by are completely open access under the . You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited.
Citations
How to cite this page
To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by , please use the following citation:
“Data Page: Share of population living in extreme poverty”. (2025). Data adapted from Michalis Moatsos. Retrieved from /grapher/share-of-population-living-in-extreme-poverty [online resource]
How to cite this data
In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:
Michalis Moatsos (2021) – with major processing by
Full citation
Michalis Moatsos (2021) – with major processing by . “Share of population living in extreme poverty – Long-run estimates” [dataset]. Michalis Moatsos, “Global extreme poverty - Present and past since 1820” [original data]. Retrieved April 28, 2025 from /grapher/share-of-population-living-in-extreme-poverty