The 847 million poverty count is 3.7 billion under a different standard.

Global poverty figures often focus on one small number. By the World Bank's extreme-poverty lineextreme-poverty lineAn income cutoff meant to mark bare survival in the world's poorest economies. of $3.00 per day (2021 PPPPPPA way of comparing money across countries by what it can actually buy, not just by exchange rates.), about 847 million people, or 10.4% of the world's population, lived in poverty in 2024. That line is only a floor meant for bare survival, not basic security. The researchers examined this official data and asked what it misses. They looked beyond that single line by sorting people by geography, age, and gender, and checking food security, working poverty, social protectionsocial protectionPrograms such as pensions or unemployment benefits that help people when their income is not enough., and relative poverty. They found that poverty looks much larger under broader standards. Measuring by income standards suited to each nation's development, some 3.7 billion people fall below the World Bank's $8.30/day upper-middle-income reference line. Roughly 1.1 billion are multidimensionally poor, and around 2.3 billion face food insecurityfood insecurityNot having reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious food.. Finally, weaker survey coverage in the poorest areas means official numbers likely undercount hardship.

Why it matters

How poverty is counted decides who counts as poor. The widely cited $3.00 line is built to mark bare survival in the poorest economies; against each society's own standard, the number is several times larger. If official figures are far likelier to understate deprivation than overstate it, the reassuring global headline hides the true scale of the problem.

Questions answered