This blog is the first installment of a series about the World Development Indicators (WDI). Explore the data related to the WDIs here.
Were you aware that in addition to the end-of-year festivities and the beginning of a new year, we also just commemorated International Human Solidarity Day? This was celebrated on December 20, and by doing so, the UN member countries are united in recognizing that a culture of solidarity and a spirit of sharing is important for combating poverty and promoting human and social development. In fact, solidarity should be recognized as a fundamental and universal value underlying relations between people in the 21st century, according to the United Nations.
If you are a regular reader of the World Bank Data Blog (and if you’re not, we hope you consider becoming one!), you may recall the recurring updates of the number of people living in extreme poverty – i.e. below the international poverty line (IPL). Most recently, these figures were updated in September 2024, where it was estimated that 692 million people live on less than $2.15 a day in 2024.
In fact, the number of people living below the IPL has stagnated in recent years – in part due to COVID-19, but also due to an increasing concentration in countries that are making slow progress on reducing extreme poverty. As such, the Sustainable Development Goal related to eradicating extreme poverty remains a daunting task with the progress substantially off track. But poverty does not end with $ 2.15 and neither should human solidarity. The IPL is based on the national poverty lines of the poorest countries, which is a very frugal standard. Furthermore, monetary poverty only captures one dimension by which you can identify the people who experience poverty.
The World Bank has therefore developed a Multidimensional Poverty Measure, which incorporates three dimensions of wellbeing – monetary, education and basic infrastructure – through six different indicators (consumption or income, educational attainment, educational enrollment, drinking water, sanitation, and electricity). This is just one of the many measures available through one of the World Bank’s databanks, World Development Indicators.
Once you take these multiple dimensions of poverty into account, the share of people who experience poverty increases even further. By construction, multidimensional poverty is higher than monetary poverty in all countries – and significantly so in a majority of the poorest countries. A useful reminder that poverty does not end with a specific monetary amount, let alone $2.15.
So, while you are hopefully still reminiscing about the holidays and looking forward to this new year, spare a moment to acknowledge the importance and relevance of International Human Solidarity Day.
The author gratefully acknowledges financial support from the UK Government through the Data and Evidence for Tackling Extreme Poverty (DEEP) Research Program.
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