Which country has most number of poor people in the world?

A stunning report now reveals that India has the most number of poor people in the world, surpassing its neighbours and arch-rivals Pakistan. The data has come to limelight according to the United Nations Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2024.

According to the data released, more than 1.1 billion people are dwelling in extreme poverty, with India alone accounting for 234 million of them. India can be considered the most obvious case, with 234 million people in it, closely followed by Pakistan at 93 million people.

Top 5 countries with most number of poor people in the world

The top five countries in the world by number of people living under these conditions are

1. India: 234 million poor people
2. Pakistan: 93 million poor people
3. Ethiopia: 86 million poor people
4. Nigeria: 74 million poor people
5. Democratic Republic of the Congo: 66 million poor people

More damning still is that half the world’s poor making around 48.1%, reside in these five countries. And if that was not enough, 584 million children younger than 18 live in extreme poverty, representing 27.9% of all children in the world, whereas only 13.5% of adults live in extreme poverty.

SDG Goal # 1: Eradicate Poverty

The goal is:

“By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.”

The report went on to highlight regional disparity, noting that 83.2 per cent of the world’s poorest people live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Low-income countries make up a meagre 10.2% of the world population but account for 34.8%, that is 400 million, of the total poor. Then, 65.2% (about 749 million) of the poor in the world live in middle-income countries, which would be the very area complicating efforts at poverty eradication.

These dismal figures set off alarm bells and kept the debate alive, especially in India, which continues to grapple with not only inflationary but also unemployment woes in its economy. It has been a wake-up call for some very urgent policy interventions and an overall comprehensive poverty alleviation package to ward off this deepening crisis.

Also, see: Huge crowd gathered to buy iPhone 16 series in India: Who says India is a poor country?