Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 1.3.1
Percentage of world population living at different poverty levels
2005
Poverty line
$ US per day
Percentage of world population
below the poverty line
Number (billions)
1.00
13.6
0.88
1.25
21.7
1.40
1.45
26.6
1.72
2.00
40.2
2.60
2.50
48.6
3.14
10.00
79.7
5.15
Source
: United Nations Development Programme, 2009
per cent. Indeed, China accounted for nearly all the world's reduction
in poverty during this period. Excluding China from the figures, world
poverty fell by only 10 per cent (Figure 1.3.1B).
Such statistics point squarely to the fact that inequality and highly
skewed distributions of wealth and assets characterize the modern
world. In 2004, a minuscule 0.13 per cent of the world's population
controlled 25 per cent of the world's assets. At the same date, the
37
(B) World excluding China
(A) World as a whole
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
$2.50
$2.50
$1.25
$1.25
Percentage of population earning
≤
$ US 2.50
Percentage of population earning
≤
$ US 1.25
Figure 1.3.1
Proportion of the population living on less than $US 1.25 and
2.50 for (A) the World and (B) the World excluding China, 1981-2005
