Extreme poverty

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Extreme poverty is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services". Historically, other definitions have been proposed within the United Nations. Extreme poverty mainly refers to an income below the international poverty line of $3 per day in 2025 ($2.99 in 2025 dollars), set by the World Bank. This is the equivalent of $1.00 a day in 1985 US prices, hence the widely used expression "living on less than a dollar a day". The vast majority of those in extreme poverty reside in Sub-Saharan Africa. As of 2026, it is estimated that the country with the most people living in extreme poverty is the DRC, at 76.2 million. In the past, the vast majority of the world population lived in conditions of extreme poverty. The percentage of the global...

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