--- title: The World Bank Says Extreme Poverty Is to Fall Below 10% description: The World Bank predicts that under 10% of the world's population will live in extreme poverty in 2015 canonical: https://time.com/4060895/world-bank-extreme-poverty/ author: Joanna Plucinska article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-05T08:25:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T11:30:17.328Z article:section: World og:title: World Bank Says Extreme Poverty to Soon Blight Under 10% og:description: The body aims to see extreme poverty eradicated by 2030. og:url: https://time.com/4060895/world-bank-extreme-poverty/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde4107328eeaf1f8/698866ceab6d7788946a6841/465262204.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: SSUDAN-UN-WAR-HEALTH-FAMINE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: World Bank Says Extreme Poverty to Soon Blight Under 10% twitter:description: The body aims to see extreme poverty eradicated by 2030. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde4107328eeaf1f8/698866ceab6d7788946a6841/465262204.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Extreme Poverty Expected to Fall Below 10% of Global Population for First Time ## Video: A Fighting Chance: Wrestling Out of Poverty in Senegal [Watch (HLS stream): A Fighting Chance: Wrestling Out of Poverty in Senegal](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JgIb1qKy.m3u8) (3:00)  _Published 2015-05-19. The stakes are high, as the winnings can lift many fighters out of poverty_ by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Oct 5, 2015 8:25 AM CUT  A child carries a bowl of grain mixed with soil after collecting seeds off the ground following a food-drop at a village in Nyal, an administrative hub of Panyijar county in Unity state, south Sudan, on February 24, 2015 A child carries a bowl of grain mixed with soil after collecting seeds off the ground following a food-drop at a village in Nyal, an administrative hub of Panyijar county in Unity state, south Sudan, on February 24, 2015Tony Karumba—AFP/Getty Images by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Oct 5, 2015 8:25 AM CUT Fewer than 10% of the world’s population will [live](http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2015/10/04/world-bank-forecasts-global-poverty-to-fall-below-10-for-first-time-major-hurdles-remain-in-goal-to-end-poverty-by-2030 "undefined") in extreme poverty for the first time by the end of 2015, according to the World Bank, moving one step closer to the body’s stated goal of global extreme poverty eradication by 2030. Using a new poverty line, the World Bank estimates that the global population living in poverty will fall to 702 million people in 2015, which is approximately 9.6% of the population. In 2012, 12.8% or around 902 million people lived in extreme poverty globally. The international financial institution updated its global poverty line from $1.25 to $1.90 to reflect inflation and changes in purchasing power around the world. “This is the best story in the world today — these projections show us that we are the first generation in human history that can end extreme poverty,” Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank, said in a statement. Yong credited investments into education and social safety nets for the dramatic reduction in poverty around the world. However, he acknowledged that certain difficult hurdles need to be overcome before this ambitious goal is reached. He warned that poverty is becoming more deeply entrenched in conflict zones and countries dependent on commodity exports. He also said that poverty remains a pressing issue in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, although rates are expected to decline in both regions. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4060895/world-bank-extreme-poverty/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4060895/world-bank-extreme-poverty/"},"headline":"Extreme Poverty Expected to Fall Below 10% of Global Population for First Time","datePublished":"2015-10-05T08:25:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:30:17.328Z","description":"\"This is the best story in the world today\"","url":"https://time.com/4060895/world-bank-extreme-poverty/","keywords":["development","Hunger","South Asia","world bank"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde4107328eeaf1f8/698866ceab6d7788946a6841/465262204.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joanna Plucinska","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde4107328eeaf1f8/698866ceab6d7788946a6841/465262204.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SSUDAN-UN-WAR-HEALTH-FAMINE","caption":"SSUDAN-UN-WAR-HEALTH-FAMINE","creditText":"Tony Karumba—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/development/","name":"development"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4060895/world-bank-extreme-poverty/","name":"Extreme Poverty Expected to Fall Below 10% of Global Population for First Time"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Fighting Chance: Wrestling Out of Poverty in Senegal","description":"The stakes are high, as the winnings can lift many fighters out of poverty","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/JgIb1qKy/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-05-19T14:15:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JgIb1qKy.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4060895/world-bank-extreme-poverty/","duration":"PT3M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4060895/world-bank-extreme-poverty/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```