Share of Population Living in Extreme Poverty, South Asia

Key points from the chart

The chart tracks the share of people living in extreme poverty in five South Asian countries, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, from 1977 to 2022.
Extreme poverty here means living below the International Poverty Line of $2.15 a day, adjusted for inflation and for differences in living costs between countries.
All five lines fall over the period. India, Pakistan and Nepal all start above 60%, and Nepal ends lowest, close to zero in 2022.
India ends highest of the five, at roughly 13% in its last survey year, after a small rise around 2020.
The data comes from the World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2024), published under a CC BY licence.

The extreme poverty chart in text

Title: Share of population living in extreme poverty, 1977 to 2022. Subtitle: “Extreme poverty is defined as living below the International Poverty Line of $2.15 per day. This data is adjusted for inflation and for differences in the cost of living between countries.” Logo: Our World in Data.

The vertical axis runs from 0% to 60% in steps of 10%. The horizontal axis is labelled 1977, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2022. Each dot is a survey year, and the lines join them. The chart prints no values, so the figures below are our readings of the line positions and are approximate, to within about a percentage point.

Country (line colour)	First point on the chart	Last point on the chart	Shape of the line
India (dark blue)	About 63% in 1977	About 13% around 2021	Steady fall, a sharp drop around 2009 to 2011, a low near 11% just before 2020 and a small rise around 2020
Bangladesh (slate blue)	About 37% in the early 1980s	About 5% in 2022	Rises to about 42% around 1990, then falls steadily
Pakistan (brown)	Above 60% in the late 1980s	About 5% around 2018	Steep fall in the early 1990s, a rebound to about a third around 2001, then a steady fall
Sri Lanka (teal)	About 17% in the mid 1980s	About 1% around 2019	Lowest line for most of the period, flat through the 1990s
Nepal (crimson)	Above 60% in the mid 1980s (the line starts off the top of the chart)	Close to 0% in 2022	About 55% in the mid 1990s, about 40% in the early 2000s and under 10% by 2010

Footer printed on the chart: Data source, World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2024). Licence CC BY. Note: “This data is expressed in international-$ at 2017 prices. Depending on the country and year, it relates to income measured after taxes and benefits, or to consumption, per capita.”

Two footnotes define the terms. International dollars are “a hypothetical currency that is used to make meaningful comparisons of monetary indicators of living standards”, adjusted for inflation within countries and for differences in living costs between countries. “Per capita” means each person, including children, is given an equal share of their household’s total income.

How extreme poverty is measured

Our World in Data’s page for this chart explains that the figures come from the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform, which pools national household surveys. For high-income countries the data measures income after taxes and benefits. For most low and middle-income countries it measures consumption instead, and it estimates the value of food people grow for themselves [1].

The page also notes that the surveys countries run can change over time, which creates breaks in the series where data points are less comparable [1]. That is one reason the lines on this chart are uneven, with straight segments between irregular survey years.

The poverty line has changed since this chart

This graphic uses the $2.15 a day line at 2017 prices. The World Bank has since moved the International Poverty Line to $3 a day at 2021 prices. Our World in Data records the line moving from $1.90 a day (2011 prices) to $2.15 (2017 prices) to $3 (2021 prices) [2], and its live version of this chart now uses the $3 line [1]. Figures from the live chart will therefore not match this graphic exactly.

At the global level, Our World in Data says that close to one in ten people live in extreme poverty on the $3 line [2]. The World Bank says the number of people living in extreme poverty fell from around 2.3 billion in 1990 to 811 million in 2026, and that the decline was largely driven by economic growth in East Asia and South Asia [3].

Notes on this infographic

Title and scope. The title reads like a world chart, but it shows only five South Asian countries. It does not include a South Asia or world total.
Values are read, not printed. No numbers appear on the lines, so the figures in the table above are approximate readings of the graphic.
Older poverty line. The chart uses the $2.15 line, which the World Bank has replaced with the $3 line [2].
Different measures. Countries and years can use income or consumption, which limits exact comparison between countries [1].

Questions about extreme poverty

How many people live in extreme poverty?

The World Bank puts the number at 811 million people in 2026, each living on less than $3 a day, down from around 2.3 billion in 1990 [3].

What percentage of the world lives in extreme poverty?

Close to one in ten people worldwide, according to Our World in Data, using the $3 a day line [2]. This chart covers five countries only, so it does not show a world share.

Which South Asian country has the highest extreme poverty rate?

Of the five countries on the chart, India ends highest, at roughly 13% around 2021 after a small rise around 2020. Bangladesh ends at about 5% in 2022, Pakistan about 5% around 2018, Sri Lanka about 1% around 2019 and Nepal close to 0% in 2022. The chart prints no values, so these are approximate readings of the line positions, using the $2.15 a day line.

What is the international poverty line?

The World Bank's International Poverty Line is now $3 a day at 2021 prices. This chart uses the earlier line of $2.15 a day at 2017 prices. Our World in Data records the line moving from $1.90 a day (2011 prices) to $2.15 (2017 prices) to $3 (2021 prices) [2], and its live version of the chart now uses the $3 line [1].