Further 150m people face extreme poverty by 2022, warns World Bank

Further 150m people face extreme poverty by 2022, warns World Bank

A woman in Ethiopia who lost her job because of the coronavirus pandemic prepares food for her family in a small tent.

Photograph: Mulugeta Ayene/AP

An additional 150 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by the end of next year as a conflict, climate change and Covid-19 combine to end two decades of progress in raising the living standards of those on the lowest incomes,says the latest World Bank estimates.

The Washington-based organisation said the proportion of the world's population living on less than $1.90 a day was expected to rise from 9.1% to 9.4% during 2020, with the increase concentrated in countries with already high poverty rates.

In the absence of the outbreak of coronavirus, the Bank said it would have expected the poverty rate to fall below 8% during 2020.

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