Poverty by Country

Economic activity occurs where populations have disposable income or local resources are in demand. 

Poverty by country may be the most questionable metric to determine relative prosperity between countries.  Some countries will overestimate their poverty rate to get more foreign aid.  Some countries will underestimate their poverty rate to appear more prosperous than they really are to get more foreign investment.  Sources for poverty information tend to have a liberal bias and the high percentages look overstated.

It is not clear what criteria is used to determine poverty rate percentages.

There are 171 countries and locations listed in this report and the data does not correlate with their Per Capita GDP.

Some of the countries with the highest percentages reported look too high. Syria at 82.5% looks right, but the others look overstated.

Many of the countries with the lowest percentages look too low.

Countries by Poverty Rank Percentage are listed 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%

Democratic Republic of Congo 63%

Swaziland 63%

Zambia 60.5%

Guatemala 59.3%

Haiti 58.5%

Lesotho 57%

Togo 55.1%

Liberia 54.1%

Yemen 54%

Malawi 50.7%

South Sudan 50.6%

Eritrea 50%

Gambia 47%

Guinea 47%

Chad 46.7%

Senegal 46.7%

Sudan 46.5%

Republic of 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%

East Timor 41.8%

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%

Bangladesh 31.5%

Tajikistan 31.5%

Figi 31%

Mauritania 31%

Dominican Republic 30.5%

Botswana 30.3%

Cameroon 30%

Cape Verde 30%

Gaza Strip 30%

Kosovo 30%

Italy 29.9%

Honduras 29.6%

Nicaragua 29.6%

Ethiopia 29.6%

Pakistan 29.5%

Dominica 29%

Virgin Islands 28.9%

Namibia 28.7%

Lebanon 28.6%

Colombia 27.8%

Micronesia 26.7%

Tuvalu 26.3%

Ecuador 25.6%

Burma 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%

Mongolia 21.6%

Philippines 21.6%

Macedonia 21.5%

Estonia 21.3%

Spain 21.1%

Moldova 20.8%

Trinidad Tobago 20%

Uganda 19.7%

Venezuela 19.7%

French Polynesia 19.7%

Hong Kong 19.6%

Croatia 19.5%

UAE 19.5%

Portugal 19%

Iran 18.7%

West Bank 18%

Cambodia 17.7%

Poland 17.6%

Bosnia Herzegovina 17.2%

New Caledonia 17%

South Africa 16.6%

Jamaica 16.5%

Malta 16.3%

Greenland 16.2%

Japan 16.1%

Maldives 16%

Tunisia 15.5%

US 15.1%

Belgium 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%

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%

Farce Islands 4.2%

Austria 4%

Malaysia 3.8%

China 3.3%

Kazakhstan 2.7%

Taiwan 1.5%

Turkmenistan 0.2%

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

Comments

China at 3.3% looks understated. They have 1.4 billion people and most live in rural areas. Venezuela at 19.7% looks too low.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader