The global reductions in poverty over the last 50 years have been unprecedented, bordering on miraculous. But the rapid and easy gains in wellbeing might be behind us.
Based on current trends, progress against extreme poverty will come to a halt. As we’ll see, the number of people in extreme poverty is projected to decline, from 831 million people in 2025 to 793 million people in 2030. After 2030, the number of extremely poor people is expected to increase.
Of course, no one expected poverty to drop the way that it did in our lifetimes, so perhaps unexpected growth is still in our future. But it will take doing things that we aren’t doing now.
The end of progress against extreme poverty? - Our World in Data