Poverty at $6.85 a day — all countries

Poverty at $6.85 a day — South Asia

Poverty at $6.85 a day in South Asia in 2024 — 76.4%. Since 1981, the indicator has fallen by 21 pp.

2024 76.4% −2.4 pp vs 2023
World rank
Period maximum 97.4%1981
Period minimum 76.4%2024

Trend over time

1981–2024 · % of population

Poverty at $6.85 a day — South Asia, 1981–202470809010019811986199119962001200620112016202120241981: 97.4%1982: 97.4%1983: 97.1%1984: 97.1%1985: 96.9%1986: 96.9%1987: 96.9%1988: 96.9%1989: 96.9%1990: 96.9%1991: 97%1992: 97%1993: 97%1994: 96.8%1995: 96.6%1996: 96.5%2002: 95.7%2003: 95.6%2004: 95.4%2005: 95.1%2006: 94.8%2007: 94.4%2008: 94.3%2009: 94%2010: 93.1%2011: 92%2012: 91.2%2013: 90.6%2014: 89.9%2020: 84.9%2021: 83.4%2022: 81.4%2023: 78.8%2024: 76.4%
Change over the period: −21 pp Annual average: -0.49 pp

Comparison, 2024

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: South Asia

South Asia 76.4%
World 46.1%
Poverty at $6.85 a day — South Asia, by year South Asia All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2024 76.4 −2.4 pp
2023 78.8 −2.6 pp
2022 81.4 −2 pp
2021 83.4 −1.5 pp
2020 84.9
2014 89.9 −0.7 pp
2013 90.6 −0.6 pp
2012 91.2 −0.8 pp
2011 92 −1.1 pp
2010 93.1 −0.9 pp
2009 94 −0.3 pp
2008 94.3 −0.1 pp
2007 94.4 −0.4 pp
2006 94.8 −0.3 pp
2005 95.1 −0.3 pp
2004 95.4 −0.2 pp
2003 95.6 −0.1 pp
2002 95.7
1996 96.5 −0.1 pp
1995 96.6 −0.2 pp
1994 96.8 −0.2 pp
1993 97 +0 pp
1992 97 +0 pp
1991 97 +0.1 pp
1990 96.9 +0 pp
1989 96.9 +0 pp
1988 96.9 +0 pp
1987 96.9 +0 pp
1986 96.9 +0 pp
1985 96.9 −0.2 pp
1984 97.1 +0 pp
1983 97.1 −0.3 pp
1982 97.4 +0 pp
1981 97.4

About the indicator

The share of the population whose consumption falls below $6.85 a day at 2017 purchasing power parity — the highest of the three international lines of the World Bank. It is this line that shows how much more modest the fall in world poverty looks than the extreme line suggests: nearly half the population of the planet lives below this level, and over recent decades that share has been falling more slowly than the share of the destitute.

Important: It matches the typical national poverty lines of upper-middle-income countries. For rich countries even this line is low — there poverty is measured relative to median income rather than by an absolute amount.

Source: World Development Indicators (World Bank), license CC BY 4.0.