Extreme poverty, though lower than in the past, is still very high in Sub-Saharan Africa

The United Nations’ first Sustainable Development Goal is to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere” by 2030. The world is still very far away from this goal.

The data from the World Bank shows that in 1990, 55% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa and 65% in East Asia and the Pacific lived in these conditions — broadly similar figures. But the most recent figures were 37% in Sub-Saharan Africa and 1% in East Asia and the Pacific.

The United Nations focuses on “extreme poverty” in its Sustainable Development Goals agenda. They define this as living with less than $2.15 per day. This figure represents what $2.15 could buy you in the United States in 2017 prices; it is adjusted for inflation and cost of living differences between countries.

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