Poverty Rate by Country 2018

Countries are listed by Poverty Rate, the percentage of people living in “poverty” in each country listed. The percentages listed in this article are estimates provided by CIA World Fact book. Some of the countries reported are remote islands and have no large populations.  Some are parts of countries.

Rankings are listed by reported poverty rate below:

Syria 82.5%

Zimbabwe 72.3%

Madagascar 70.7%

Sierra Leone 70.2%

Nigeria 70%

Suriname 70%

Guinea-Bissau 67%

Sao Tome Principe 66.2%

Burundi 64.6%

DC Congo 63%

Swaziland 63%

Zambia 60.5%

Guatemala 59.3%

Haiti 58.5%

Lesotho 55.1%

Togo 55.1%

Liberia 54.1%

Yemen 50.7%

Malawi 50.7%

South Sudan 50.6%

Eritrea 50%

Gambia 48.4%

Guinea 47%

Chad 46.7%

Senegal 46.5%

Sudan 46.5%

Congo 46.5%

Ivory Coast 46.3%

Mexico 46.2%

Mozambique 46.1%

Niger 45.4%

Comoros 44.8%

Equatorial Guinea 44%

Kenya 43.4%

Belize 41%

Angola 40.5%

Burkina Faso 40.1%

Seychelles 39.3%

Rwanda 39.1%

Bolivia 38.6%

Grenada 38%

Papua New Guinea 37%

Benin 36.2%

Mali 36.1%

Greece 36%

Afghanistan 35.8%

Guyana 35%

El Salvador 34.9%

Gabon 34.3%

Argentina 32.2%

Kyrgyzstan 32.1%

Tajikistan 31.5%

Fiji 31%

Mauritania 31%

Dominican Republic 30.5%

Botswana 30.3%

Cameroon 30%

Cape Verde 30%

Gaza Strip 30%

Kosovo 30%

Italy 29.9%

Nicaragua 29.6%

Ethiopia 29.8%

Pakistan 29.5%

Dominica 29%

Virgin Islands 28.9%

Nambia 28.7%

Lebanon 28.6%

Colombia 27.8%

Micronesia 26.7%

Tuvalu 26.3%

Ecuador 25.6%

Burma (Myanmar) 25.6%

Latvia 25.5%

Nepal 25.2%

Egypt 25.2%

Ghana 24.2%

Ukraine 24.1%

Tonga 24%

Guam 23%

Djibouti 23%

Anguilla 23%

Algeria 23%

Panama 23%

Iraq 23%

Tanzania 22.8%

Peru 22.7%

Romania 22.4%

Paraguay 22.2%

Lithuania 22.2%

Laos 22%

Israel 22%

Bulgaria 22%

India 21.9%

Turkey 21.9%

Costa Rica 21.7%

These are the top 100 countries reporting their poverty rate.

The next 71 countries where the poverty rate is less severe are:

Romania 22.4%

Paraguay 22.2%

Lithuania 22.2%

Laos 22%

Israel 22%

Bulgaria 22%

India 21.9%

Turkey 21.9%

Costa Rica 21.7%

Mongolia 21.6%

Philippines 21.6%

Macedonia 21.5%

Estonia 21.3%

Spain 21.1%

Moldovia 20.8%

Trinidad Tobago 20%

Uganda 19.7%

Venezuela 19.7%

French Polynesia 19.7%

Croatia 19.5%

UAE 19.5%

Portugal 19%

Iran 18.7%

West Bank 18%

Cambodia 17.7%

Poland 17.6%

Bosnia 17.2%

New Caledonia 17%

Germany 16.7%

South Africa 16.6%

Jamaica 16.5%

Malta 16.3%

Greenland 16.2%

Japan 16.1%

Maldives 16%

Tunisia 15.5%

US 15.1%

Morocco 15%

Sweden 15%

UK 15%

Hungary 14.9%

Chile 14.4%

Albania 14.3%

Slovenia 14.3%

Jordan 14.2%

France 14%

Uzbekistan 14%

Denmark 13.4%

Bhutan 13.3%

Russia 13.3%

South Korea 12.5%

Slovakia 12.3%

Vietnam 11.3%

Bermuda 11%

Indonesia 10.9%

Czech Republic 9.7%

Uruguay 9.7%

Canada 9.4%

Bahamas 9.3%

Georgia 9.2%

Serbia 8.9%

Netherlands 8.8%

Montenegro 8.6%

Ireland 8.2%

Mauritius 8%

Thailand 7.2%

Sri Lanka 6.7%

Switzerland 6.6%

Belarus 5.7%

Azerbaijan 4.9%

Faroe Islands 4.2%

Austria 4%

Malaysia 3.8%

China 3.3%

Kazakhstan 2.7%

Taiwan 1.5%

Turkmenistan 0.2%

Definition: National estimates of the percentage of the population falling below the poverty line are based on surveys of sub-groups, with the results weighted by the number of people in each group. Definitions of poverty vary considerably among nations. For example, rich nations generally employ more generous standards of poverty than poor nations.

Source: CIA World Factbook - Unless otherwise noted, information in this page is accurate as of January 1, 2018

https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=69

Data reported by some of the countries looks like it was fudged. This includes China at 3.3%, China’s minimum wage is $3 per hour. Obviously China has a different definition for poverty than the rest. The other questionable country is Venezuela at 19.7%. I would expect a higher poverty rate, because their economy has collapsed.

Some data in the CIA Report disagrees with other sources. I’ve seen 12.3% used for the 2018 poverty rate for the US. I suspect the data from some countries is not updated to 2018.

Throughout the world, income is concentrated in the cities, while the rural areas are less affluent. There appears to be lots of poverty, but not much noise about starvation.

Obviously poor families in poor countries are planting their gardens and tending their livestock and some are growing some plants and making illegal drugs to sell to drug cartels. Many of the poor and sick are living with relatives.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader