Poverty : 12 Surprising Global Facts

Poverty : 12 Surprising Global Facts

poverty-blogPoverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the action of human beings. – Nelson Mandela

Poverty is a global concern yet we have not arrived on a consensus when it comes to ways of measuring the existing conditions of poor. As world celebrates the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17th of October, we must take a look at the related facts and figures.

•    The 85 richest individuals of the world hold as much wealth compared to the poorest half.

•    In 2012, the 100 richest people earned enough to end the absolute poverty a four times over.
•    The top poorest nations in the world comprise of India (with 33 percent poor), China (13 percent), Nigeria (7 percent) and Bangladesh (6 percent). The democratic Republic of Congo comes fifth with 5 percent of population living in poverty. The additional five include Indonesia, Pakistan, Tanzania with Ethiopia and Kenya.
•    75 percent of the poor live in rural places around the world and are dependent upon agriculture for livelihood.
•    In the developed world, the highest rate of poverty is experienced by Israel with 20.9 percent.
•    14 percent of the total world population lives in absolute poverty, which constitutes around 750 million people. Going by continents, the maximum number can be seen in Africa with 383 million. Country wise, the extremely poor people live in India (218 million).
•    In 2010, an average income was 87 cents each day per capita for individuals going through extreme poverty in the developing countries.
•    80 percent of the people in this world are surviving on 10 dollars a day.
•    165 million out of them are affected by childhood malnutrition.
•    The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the 41 most indebted poor nations comprising of 567 million people is lesser than the assets of the 7 richest persons combined.
•    There are one billion poor children worldwide meaning 1 child in every 2 experiences poverty. 640 million do not have adequate shelter, 400 million are without safe water and 270 million do not have access to health facilities.
•    3 million children die every year due to malnutrition.
However, there is also a surprising fact. Despite the financial crisis and a surge in food prices, share of population under extreme poverty around the globe is on continuous decline in recent years.

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