This document discusses definitions and measures of poverty from various international organizations like the UN and World Bank. It provides data on the percentage of populations living below $1.25 and $2 per day internationally and for different countries and regions. Maps and tables show trends in life expectancy, human development index, GDP, population growth, and other socioeconomic indicators related to poverty.

3. Etymology

4. late 12c., from O.Fr. poverte, from L. paupertatem
(nom. paupertas) "poverty," from pauper [ from
latin = “poor”].
Seeing so much poverty everywhere makes me
think that God is not rich. He gives the appearance
of it, but I suspect some financial difficulties. [Victor
Hugo, "Les Misérables," 1862]
Poverty line attested from 1901.
Source: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=poverty&allowed_in_frame=0

5. Definitions

6. United Nations:
Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a
violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to
participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed
and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having
the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not
having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and
exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means
susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or
fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation.
World Bank:
Poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being, and comprises many
dimensions. It includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the
basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity. Poverty
also encompasses low levels of health and education, poor access to
clean water and sanitation, inadequate physical security, lack of voice,
and insufficient capacity and opportunity to better one’s life.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty#Definitions
See also: "Indicators of Poverty & Hunger". un.org & "Poverty and Inequality Analysis". worldbank.org.

7. Absolute poverty:
Poverty is usually measured as either absolute or relative
poverty (the latter being actually an index of income inequality).
Absolute poverty refers to a set standard which is consistent
over time and between countries. The World Bank defines
extreme poverty as living on less than US $1.25 (PPP) per day,
and moderate poverty as less than $2 or $5 a day (but note that
a person or family with access to subsistence resources, e.g.
subsistence farmers, may have a low cash income without a
correspondingly low standard of living – they are not living "on"
their cash income but using it as a top up). It estimates that "in
2001, 1.1 billion people had consumption levels below $1 a day
and 2.7 billion lived on less than $2 a day."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty#Absolute_poverty
See also: "The World Bank, 2007, Understanding Poverty". Web.worldbank.org. 2005-04-19. Retrieved 2010-
10-24

8. United Nations Development
:Programme
Millennium Development Goals

9. Adopted by world leaders in the year 2000 and set to be achieved by 2015, the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty in its many dimensions.
The MDGs also provide a framework for the entire international community to work together towards a
common end – making sure that human development reaches everyone, everywhere. If these goals are
achieved, world poverty will be cut by half, tens of millions of lives will be saved, and billions more people will
have the opportunity to benefit from the global economy. The eight MDGs break down into 21 quantifiable
targets that are measured by 60 indicators.
• Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
• Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
• Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
• Goal 5: Improve maternal health
• Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
• Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development See also: http://www.undp.org/mdg
/goals.shtml

10. Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty
and hunger
Target 1a: Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day
1.1 Proportion of population below $1 (PPP) per day
1.2 Poverty gap ratio
1.3 Share of poorest quintile in national consumption
Target 1b: Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women
and young people
1.4 Growth rate of GDP per person employed
1.5 Employment-to-population ratio
1.6 Proportion of employed people living below $1 (PPP) per day
1.7 Proportion of own-account and contributing family workers in total employment
Target 1c: Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
1.8 Prevalence of underweight children under-five years of age
1.9 Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption
See also: http://www.undp.org/mdg
/goal1.shtml

11. Percentage population
living on less than 1
dollar day

12. World map showing percent of population living on less than
$1.25 (ppp) per day using the latest data from 2000-2006.
Source: self-made, data from the UN Human Development statistics 2008

13. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Percentage_living_on_less_than_$1_per_day_1981-2001.png

14. See also: http://www.globalissues.org/article/4/poverty-around-the-world

15. See also: http://www.globalissues.org/article/4/poverty-around-the-world

16. See also: http://www.globalissues.org/article/4/poverty-around-the-world

17. See also: http://www.globalissues.org/article/4/poverty-around-the-world

18. See also: http://www.globalissues.org/article/4/poverty-around-the-world

19. See also:
http://www.globalissues.org/article/4
/poverty-around-the-world

21. Suffer from Hunger

22. List of countries by percentage of population suffering from
undernourishment.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Percentage_population_undernourished_world_map.PNG

23. Source: FAO; 2010.

24. Number of hungry people, 1969-2010
Source: FAO

25. The series of estimated prevalence
of undernourishment in the world
from 1990-1992 to 2006-2008 have
been updated in 2011, to reflect
the new data on the World
population as assessed in the 2010
Revision of the World Population
Prospects by the UN Population
Division. According to the new
estimate the average prevalence in
2006-2008 for the developing
world stands at 15%. This is slightly
lower than the one estimated last
year for the period 2005-2007. The
average number of people
suffering from lack of adequate
food over the three years remains
discomfortingly high at 840 million
worldwide.
Source: UN; Millennium Development Goals Report; Addendum: Goal 1; 2011.

26. Trends in the prevalence of
undernourishment remain unchanged
with South-Eastern Asia, Eastern Asia
and Latin America and the Caribbean
likely to achieve the hunger reduction
target by 2015. Among the remaining
regions which are unlikely to achieve
the target if past trends persist, the
percentage of population estimated to
be suffering from chronic hunger in
sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia
is worryingly high at 27% and 20%
respectively.
Source: UN; Millennium Development Goals Report;
Addendum: Goal 1; 2011.

27. Source: UN; Millennium Development Goals Report; Addendum: Goal 1; 2011.

28. Life Expectancy

29. Life expectancy at birth (years) world map including:
1) 191 United Nations member states (all except Montenegro)
2) Republic of China - Taiwan
3) Western Sahara territory
4) 27 non-sovereign entities marked with a white hyphen (-) or a black asterisk (*):
- 23 dependent territories
- Hong-Kong and Macau: Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China.
- Occupied Palestinian Territories: West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Source: CIA - The World Factbook 2008 - Rank Order - Life Expectancy at birth (as updated until 20 November
2008)

30. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Life_expectancy_1950-2005.png

31. United Nations Human
Development Index

32. Very High
High
Medium
Low
Data unavailable
The United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) rankings for 2011
Source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2011/download/
See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index

33. Gini Coefficient

34. Differences in national income equality around the world as measured by the national
Gini coefficient. The Gini coefficient is a number between 0 and 1, where 0
corresponds with perfect equality (where everyone has the same income) and 1
corresponds with perfect inequality (where one person has all the income, and
everyone else has zero income).
Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html Gini Coefficient World
CIA Report 2009

35. Income Distribution

36. See also: http://www.globalissues.org/article/4/poverty-around-the-world

37. See also: http://www.globalissues.org/article/4/poverty-around-the-world

38. See also:
http://www.globalissues.org/
article/4/poverty-around-the-
world

39. Average GDP PPP per capita
2010

40. World map showing countries above and below the world average GNP PPP
(per capita). Note that Hong Kong and Macao, which are above the world
average GNP PPP (Per capita), are omitted on the map.
above world average
below world average
Source: IMF; 2010.

41. Population growth rate
world 2005-2010

42. Population growth rate world 2005-2010 UN
Source: http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf; page 25.

44. Tables of Population living under
1.25 and
2 dollar (PPP) a day (%)
(International poverty line)

46. World Bank

47. Income share held by
second 20%
Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population
indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of
rounding.
Income share held by
third 20%
Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population
indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of
rounding.
Income share held by
fourth 20%
Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population
indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of
rounding.
Income share held by
highest 20%
Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population
indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of
rounding.
Income share held by
highest 10%
Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population
indicated by deciles or quintiles.
Income share held by
lowest 10%
Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population
indicated by deciles or quintiles.
Income share held by
lowest 20%
Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population
indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of
rounding.
Poverty headcount ratio
at $2 a day (PPP) (% of
population)
Population below $2 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $2.00 a day at
2005 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual
countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.
Source: http://iresearch.worldbank.org/povcalnet/jsp/index.jsp

48. Poverty headcount ratio at
$1.25 a day (PPP) (% of
population)
Population below $1.25 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $1.25 a day at 2005
international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be
compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.
Poverty gap at $2 a day (PPP)
(%)
Poverty gap is the mean shortfall from the poverty line (counting the nonpoor as having zero shortfall), expressed
as a percentage of the poverty line. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.
Poverty gap at $1.25 a day
(PPP) (%)
Poverty gap is the mean shortfall from the poverty line (counting the nonpoor as having zero shortfall), expressed
as a percentage of the poverty line. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.
GINI index
Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure)
among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve
plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting
with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a
hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini
index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.
Poverty gap at national
poverty line (%)
Poverty gap at national poverty line is the mean shortfall from the poverty line (counting the nonpoor as having
zero shortfall) as a percentage of
the poverty line. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.
Poverty headcount ratio at
national poverty line (% of
population)
National poverty rate is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty line. National estimates
are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys.
Poverty gap at rural poverty
line (%)
Poverty gap at rural poverty line is the mean shortfall from the poverty line (counting the nonpoor as having zero
shortfall) as a percentage of
the national rural poverty line. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.
Poverty headcount ratio at
rural poverty line (% of rural
population)
Rural poverty rate is the percentage of the rural population living below the national rural poverty line.
Poverty gap at urban poverty
line (%)
Poverty gap at urban poverty line is the mean shortfall from the poverty line (counting the nonpoor as having zero
shortfall) as a percentage of
the national urban poverty line. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.
Sources: http://iresearch.worldbank.org/povcalnet/jsp/index.jsp & Global Poverty Working Group. Data are based on World Bank's country poverty assessments and country
Poverty Reduction Strategies.

49. Poverty headcount ratio at
urban poverty line (% of urban
population) Urban poverty rate is the percentage of the urban population living below the national urban poverty line.
Internally displaced persons
(number, high estimate)
Internally displaced persons are people or groups of people who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes
or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of armed conflict, or to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of
generalized violence, violations of human rights, or natural or human-made disasters and who have not crossed an
international border.
Internally displaced persons
(number, low estimate)
Internally displaced persons are people or groups of people who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes
or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of armed conflict, or to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of
generalized violence, violations of human rights, or natural or human-made disasters and who have not crossed an
international border.
Intentional homicides, UN
Crime Trends Survey (CTS)
source (per 100,000 people)
Intentional homicides are estimates of unlawful homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal
violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by
armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the
killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly
cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.
Intentional homicides,
international public health
sources (per 100,000 people)
Intentional homicides are estimates of unlawful homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal
violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by
armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the
killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly
cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.
Intentional homicides,
international police sources
(per 100,000 people)
Intentional homicides are estimates of unlawful homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal
violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by
armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the
killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly
cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.
Intentional homicides,
government police sources (per
100,000 people)
Intentional homicides are estimates of unlawful homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal
violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by
armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the
killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly
cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.
Sources: Global Poverty Working Group. Data are based on World Bank's country poverty assessments and country Poverty Reduction
Strategies & Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre & UN Office on Drugs and Crime's International Homicide Statistics database.

50. Iran

51. Tables of Poverty gap at
$1.25 a day (PPP) (%)

52. Tables of Population
living below
national poverty line (%)

53. OECD

55. Organizations and
campaigns

56. •Abahlali baseMjondolo – South African Shack
dwellers' organisation
•Appropedia
•Azafady
•Brooks World Poverty Institute
•Catholic Charities USA
•Center for Global Development
•Child Poverty Action Group
•Compassion Canada
•Compassion International
•Department for International Development
•End Poverty Now
•Eurodad
•Food First
•Five Talents – Gives poverty stricken people
another chance
•Free the Children
•Grameen Bank A micro lending bank for the poor.
•Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)
•Habitat for Humanity International
•Harlem Children's Zone
•Homeless International
•17 October: UN International Day for the
Eradication of Poverty (White Band Day 4)
•IFAD Vietnam
•International Food Policy Research Institute
•International Fund for Agricultural Development
•International Water Management Institute
•Islamic Development Bank
•Islamic Relief
•Southern Poverty Law Center
•Tear Fund
•The Make Poverty History campaign
•Mercy Ships
•Microgiving Direct charitable giving
•Mississippi Teacher Corps
•ONE campaign]
•Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development
•United Nations Millennium Campaign
•United Prosperity (organisation)
•U.S. Agency for International Development
•World Bank
•World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists
•World Food Day
•World Food Program
•World Vision

57. Questions