Describe global poverty trends.

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.

(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.

Source—World Development Report 2001.

The above table shows the poverty situation in some of the countries of the world.