64% of World's Extreme Poor Live in Just 5 Countries

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Indian laborers carry sacks of scraps in Dharavi, Mumbai, India, on Thursday, March 7, 2013. Dharavi is Asia's largest slum.

Image: Rafiq Maqbool/Associated Press

By Matt Petronzio2014-04-12 09:00:48 UTC

The World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) continue to hold their annual spring meetings in Washington, D.C., this weekend. Thousands of government officials and and NGOs are there to discuss the global economy and international development.

Gearing up for the event, the WBG released a new report Thursday. It focuses on the progress that has been made in reducing global poverty, and what challenges remain.

Using the most recent data from 2010, the report shows that nearly two-thirds of the extremely poor — that is, those who live on less than $1.25 a day — live in just five countries: India, China, Nigeria, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

See also: The 20 Most Socially Progressive Countries in the World

The report also makes sure to note that there are smaller countries with very high extreme poverty rates, including Liberia, Burundi, Madagascar and Zambia. A more detailed version will be released later this year.

Global poverty as a whole is in decline. In 1990, 36% of the world's population lived in extreme poverty; in 2010, that number decreased to 18%. This year, the WBG President set an interim target to reduce global poverty to 9% by 2020.

The following chart, created by Statista, shows the five countries with the highest populations of people living in extreme poverty, as well as the percent of the world's total population living in each.

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Topics: chart of the day, imf, poverty, Social Good, US & World, World, world bank