There has been marked progress on reducing extreme poverty over last decade: the share of people living in extreme poverty – with incomes below USD 1.90 per day, has almost halved to 6.0% across the Asia/Pacific region (Figure 5.1). Much of the observed reduction was driven by remarkable progress in China, Indonesia, India, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam, where poverty rates decreased by more than 16 percentage points.
Despite progress, extreme poverty is still widespread in India, Lao PDR, and Timor-Leste where more than 20% of the population have less to spend than USD 1.90 per day. Among low- and middle-income countries, poverty levels are lowest in China, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Thailand where less than 1% of the population experiences severe poverty.
Poverty rates are a measure of inability to satisfy subsistence needs, including nutritional needs. The prevalence of undernourishment is generally correlated with the share of the population living under the USD 1.90 poverty line (Figure 5.2). However, in Sri Lanka and Tajikistan, the prevalence of undernourishment is well above what one would expect given poverty rates. Levels of undernourishment are also very high in Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and Timor-Leste. In these countries, social policies may take on a greater focus on food security.
Poverty generally declined more rapidly in countries with the strongest GDP growth (Figure 5.3). The pace of both economic growth and poverty reduction was fastest in Bhutan, China and Viet Nam over the 2006-16 period. In contrast, in Bangladesh and Lao PDR the share of population under the poverty line did not decline as much as what one would have expected given the pace of economic growth.
