The World Bank has warned that it could take more than a century to eliminate poverty for nearly half of the global population, including Nigeria.
This revelation comes from the bank’s new Poverty, Prosperity, and Planet Report released on Tuesday. The report focuses on people living on less than $6.85 per day.
According to a statement from the bank’s media briefing center, the report offers the first post-pandemic assessment of global efforts toward eradicating poverty and promoting shared prosperity on a sustainable planet.
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The report highlights that the global goal of ending extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $2.15 per day, by 2030 is out of reach. Instead, it may take over 30 years to eliminate poverty at this threshold, especially in low-income countries.
“Almost 700 million people, or 8.5% of the global population, live today on less than $2.15 per day. By 2030, 7.3% of the global population is projected to still be living in extreme poverty,” the statement said. It also noted that extreme poverty remains concentrated in countries with low economic growth and fragility, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The report pointed out that 44% of the world’s population currently lives on less than $6.85 per day, a poverty line for upper-middle-income countries, with little improvement since 1990 due to population growth. Axel van Trotsenburg, Senior Managing Director of the World Bank, emphasized the challenges: “After decades of progress, the world is facing significant setbacks in the fight against poverty due to intersecting crises such as slow economic growth, the pandemic, high debt, conflict, and climate shocks.”
He added, “A business-as-usual approach will no longer work. We need a fundamentally new development playbook if we are to truly improve people’s lives and livelihoods and protect our planet.”
Indermit Gill, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics at the World Bank, echoed this sentiment, acknowledging the need for balance: “Low-income countries and emerging markets must recognize the inevitability of trade-offs among these goals while seeking synergies. Policies like reducing air pollution can contribute to both climate and development goals.”
The statement emphasized that well-executed government initiatives, particularly those supporting farmers in adopting climate-smart technologies, could reduce poverty, spread prosperity, and preserve the environment.
However, the report highlighted that progress in reducing the Global Prosperity Gap, a new measure of shared prosperity, has stalled since the COVID-19 pandemic. Global income levels would need to rise fivefold today to meet the $25 per day minimum prosperity standard for high-income countries.
The report also underlined the ongoing issue of inequality, noting that 1.7 billion people, or 20% of the global population, still live in high-inequality economies, mostly in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. High inequality hinders inclusive growth and poverty reduction.
It concluded that countries must tailor their approaches to poverty reduction based on their income levels, with low-income countries focusing on economic growth and job creation, while upper-middle-income countries must prioritize reducing carbon emissions alongside poverty alleviation efforts. Strengthening international cooperation and increasing development finance are also critical for sustainable, inclusive economies.
