It is unlikely the world can meet the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, a World Bank report found. Experts have said COVID-19 ended years of progress while war and higher prices are now making things worse.
More than 9% of the world's population lives on $2.15 or less, that number will only slightly improve by 2030 Image: Eranga Jayawardena/AP/picture alliance
According to the World Bank, an international developmental lending institution, 2020 saw 71 million more people living on $2.15 (€2.18) a day or less (the new standard benchmark for extreme poverty), bringing the overall total to 719 million people — about 9.3% of the global population — and signaling the biggest single-year leap in more than 30 years.
World Bank analysts say the situation has now become even bleaker as Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as China's flagging economy, inflation, and rising food and energy prices further threaten to impede progress into the future.
The report, said World Bank President David Malpass, highlights the need for major growth-boosting policy reforms.
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World Bank estimates 7% of global population will live in extreme poverty in 2030
"Progress in reducing extreme poverty has essentially halted in tandem with subdued global economic growth," said Malpass. He cited "inflation, currency depreciations, and broader overlapping crises" as fueling further poverty.
The report noted that without a massive hike in economic growth, some 574 million people — roughly 7% of the global population — would still be living in extreme poverty in 2030.
Some 180 million children worldwide are more likely to live in extreme poverty, be deprived of basic education or suffer a violent death than their parents, according to a 2017 UNICEF report. DW takes a look.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/E. Sansar
Children in 37 countries left behind
UNICEF's analysis focused on children's chances of escaping extreme poverty, getting a basic education and avoiding a violent death. It showed that 37 countries have seen a clear decline in at least one of those areas in the past two decades. The main causes? Unrest, conflicts, financial crises and poor governance.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/M. Moskwa
Not in my parents' footsteps
There have been major efforts to improve child welfare around the world over the past two decades. But despite progress, millions of children still face massive challenges caused by factors outside of their control. According to a 2017 UNICEF report, one in 12 of the world's 2.2 billion children has far bleaker prospects today than the previous generation did 20 years ago.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/E. Sansar
Consequences of conflict
According to UNICEF, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen — all countries experiencing major conflict — have seen a decline across more than one of the three areas measured. The most dramatic change, however, was recorded in the world's newest nation, South Sudan.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Arhab
South Sudan
South Sudan was the only country where children fared worse in all three categories than previous generations. After gaining independence in 2011, the country has been plagued by civil war and famine. Four-year-old Adeng Macher, pictured above, is one of an estimated 2 million people who are near starvation.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMA Wire/M. Juarez Lugo
Growing up with war
Violent deaths among children below the age of 19 have increased in seven countries: Central African Republic, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen. Above, armed Yemeni children ride in the back of a truck with soldiers loyal to President Hadi. The UN says hundreds of children have been killed in the country since 2015, while more than 1,000 have been recruited as child soldiers.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Al-Obeidi
Surviving on under $1.90 a day
The share of people living on less than $1.90 (85 euro cents) a day has increased in 14 countries, including Benin, Cameroon, Madagascar, Zambia and Zimbabwe. According to the UN, around 19 percent of the world's children live in extreme poverty.
Image: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images
A chance in the classroom
The number of children getting a primary school education has dropped in 21 countries, including Syria, Bolivia, Jordan and Tanzania. The problem is most acute in West and Central Africa. Above, students take part in an English class in Bentiu, South Sudan, in 2011. Violence in the country has forced a quarter of schools to shut down, preventing an estimated 2 million kids from attending class.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R.Schmidt
World Children's Day
UNICEF's report was released on World Children's Day, which celebrates the anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on November 20, 1989.
Image: Welthungerhilfe
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Coronavirus 'biggest setback'
Malpass said that in order to avoid a worsening of the situation, countries needed to engage in more cooperation, end broad subsidies, and focus on long-term growth rather than short-term gains.
The World Bank report also documented instances in which government assistance had softened the blow of poverty while at the same time pointing out that developing nations had far fewer resources at their disposal, thus thwarting efforts aimed at poverty reduction.
"Over the next decade, investing in better health and education will be crucial for developing economies," said World Bank Chief Economist Indermit Gill. The report called on wealthy countries to raise revenues by increasing property and carbon taxes, thus allowing them to replenish state coffers without further burdening the poor.
Overall, global poverty fell from 38% in 1990, when the World Bank began monitoring it, to 8.4% in 2019. The pandemic, however, triggered the first extreme poverty increase in more than 20 years.
Wednesday's report concluded that the goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030, remains out of reach.
