Question
Describe global poverty trends.
Solution
The global poverty trends:
(i) Fall in global poverty - The World Bank defines poverty as living on less than $ 1 per day. There has been a substantial reduction in global poverty. It has fallen from 28 percent in 1990 to 21 per cent in 2001.
(i) Fall in global poverty - The World Bank defines poverty as living on less than $ 1 per day. There has been a substantial reduction in global poverty. It has fallen from 28 percent in 1990 to 21 per cent in 2001.
(ii)Regional variation - Although there has been a substantial reduction in global poverty, it is marked with great regional variation. Poverty declined substantially in China and South-East Asian countries as a result of rapid economic growth and massive investment in human resources development. But the pace of reduction of poverty in South Asian countries is very slow.
(iii)Poverty in India - Poverty in India has also declined, but the pace of reduction is very slow. According to World Bank's definition, 35.3% of the total population is still living below the poverty line.
(iv)Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa - In Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty in fact rose from 41 per cent in 1981 to 46 per cent in 2001. Sub-sahara includes Algeria, libya, Nigeria, China etc.
(v)Poverty in Russia - The poverty has also resurfaced in some of the former socialist countries like Russia, where officially. It was not existent earlier.
|
Country |
% of Population below $1 a day |
|
1. Nigeria |
70.8 |
|
2. Bangladesh |
36.0 |
|
3. India |
35.3 |
|
4. Pakistan |
17.0 |
|
5. China |
16.6 |
|
6. Brazil |
8.2 |
|
7. Indonesia |
7.5 |
|
8. Sri Lanka |
5.6 |
Source—World Development Report 2001.
The above table shows the poverty situation in some of the countries of the world.
