Extreme Poverty by Country — Every Decade Since 1800

To define extreme poverty is to measure the boundary of survival. It represents life lived on $2.15/day, 2017 PPP, a threshold that dictates access to the most basic human needs. Across 157 countries, these percentages serve as a stark indicator of economic stability. When a nation reports 0.1 %, the struggle for daily existence is statistically rare. Yet, in regions where the rate reaches 39 %, the challenge of securing food and shelter becomes the primary rhythm of daily life for a vast portion of the population.

The historical trajectory of these figures reveals an uneven global transition. Tracking data decade by decade since 1800 uncovers a landscape that has shifted through eras of industrialization, conflict, and development. Nations once facing high poverty have often transitioned to the 0.1 % category seen in countries like Belgium, China, Czechia, Finland, France, Ireland, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, or Saudi Arabia. Conversely, other regions remain anchored by higher percentages, with Algeria at 4 % and nations like Nigeria at 39 %, reflecting the complex, centuries-long struggle against systemic economic hardship.

For a child born into a country with 0.1 % extreme poverty, the primary concerns of early life differ fundamentally from one born into a state with 35 % or 39 %. The geography of one’s birth serves as a foundational variable for individual opportunity. Each row in our dataset links these cold percentages to the reality of a human life, illustrating how economic environment defines the limits and possibilities of the journey ahead. You may now explore where you rank among everyone ever born by calculating your own parallel lives.