World Bank Research E-Newsletter [April 2007]
Global poverty rates continued to fall in the first four years of the 21st century, according to new international poverty line estimates by Chen and Ravallion that are based on data from over 500 household surveys spanning a hundred countries. The proportion of people living on less than $1 a day fell to 18.1 percent in 2004, leaving an estimated 969 million people living in extreme poverty. The research shows that while poverty as a share of total population has been declining along both the $1- and $2-a-day poverty lines, the actual headcount of poor people under $2 a day has been on the rise through most of the period, with not much progress in reducing their numbers in the developing world outside of China, even under $1 a day.
World Bank Research E-Newsletter [April 2007].pdf