Commodity Online
WASHINGTON : The World Bank on Tuesday said more people are living in extreme poverty in developing countries than previously thought as it adjusted the recognized yardstick for measuring global poverty to $1.25 a day from $1.

In a report released here, the WB said there were 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty on less than $1.25 a day in 2005 in the world's 10 to 20 poorest countries. Last year, the World Bank said there were 1 billion people living under the previous $1 a day poverty mark.

While most of the developing world has managed to reduce poverty, the rate in sub-Saharan Africa, the world's poorest region, has not changed in nearly 25 years, according to data using the new $US1.25 a day poverty line.

In India, the number of people below the $1.25 a day poverty line increased to 455 million in 2005 from 420 million people in 1981. But the share of the population in poverty fell to 42% from 60%.

In South Asia, the poverty rate fell from 60% to 40% between 1981 and 2005, but that was not enough to bring down the total number of poor in the region, which stood at 600 million in 2005.

In East Asia, which includes China, the poverty rate fell to 18% in 2005 from almost 80% in 1981, when it was the poorest region. In China, the number of people in poverty fell to 207 million from 835 million in 1981.

The World Bank noted that better-off countries have higher poverty lines and said it was more appropriate in regions such as Latin America and Eastern Europe to use a $US2 a day rate.

The bank has estimated that 100 million people could fall into extreme poverty due to soaring food and energy prices.

The new figures are likely to put fresh pressure on big donor countries to move more aggressively to combat global poverty, and on countries to introduce more-effective policies to help lift the poorest.

The new figures come ahead of an updated assessment of progress in meeting the UN's Millennium Development Goals, which will released late next month at a meeting of the UN General Assembly.