After years of overlapping shocks, from the pandemic to inflation and conflict, global poverty trends are slowly improving, but progress remains uneven across regions and countries. Image Credit: Shutterstock
Society The WorldExtreme Poverty Begins to Fall Again in Most Countries
Global extreme poverty has been declining in most countries since 2021, marking a slow but broad recovery after pandemic-era reversals.
“Three out of four countries are expected to have seen poverty decline between 2021 and 2024,” said Luis Felipe López-Calva, global director for poverty and equity at the World Bank.
New projections covering 115 countries show that economic growth has returned in 86% of economies since 2021, helping to reduce poverty across much of Europe, East Asia, and Latin America, while progress remains weakest in conflict-affected and low-income countries. In 2025, poverty is expected to fall in 80% of countries, the highest share in a decade, signalling renewed momentum even as experts warn that eliminating extreme poverty globally could still take decades at the current pace.
