🧒 Child poverty declines worldwide - 100 million fewer in 10 years

• The number of children living in extreme poverty has decreased from 507 million in 2014 to 412 million in 2024.
• South Asia has more than halved its child poverty during the past decade.
• India shows the largest reduction in the number of extremely poor children in the region.

Decrease since 2014

Fewer children live in extreme poverty today compared to ten years ago. According to new research from the World Bank and UNICEF, about one in five children live in extreme poverty in 2024. This corresponds to 412 million children under 17 years old living in households with less than 3 dollars per day.

The figure shows a clear decrease from 2014 when 507 million children lived in extreme poverty. The reduction has been steady but slow during the period.

Large differences between regions

Child poverty varies greatly between different parts of the world. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to about 23 percent of the world's children but has three-quarters of all children living in extreme poverty - over 312 million children.

The region has child poverty of around 52 percent in 2024, the same level as in 2014. Poverty is concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa and conflict-affected areas.

South Asia shows progress

South Asia and East Asia with the Pacific region have experienced important reductions in child poverty between 2014 and 2024. South Asia has more than halved its extreme poverty during the past decade.

India accounts for the largest reduction in the number of extremely poor children in the region. The country has succeeded in reducing both the number and proportion of children living below the poverty line.

Increase in the Middle East

The Middle East and North Africa are going in the opposite direction. The region has almost doubled its child poverty between 2014 and 2024. The proportion of children in extreme poverty has increased from 7.2 percent to 13.3 percent.

New research method

The research builds on the World Bank's Global Monitoring Database from June 2025. It includes information from several surveys conducted in recent years. This provides improved estimates for the years after the pandemic.

The study is the first to use the World Bank's recently revised global poverty lines. The three poverty lines are now 3 dollars for low-income countries, 4.20 dollars for lower-middle-income countries, and 8.30 dollars for upper-middle-income countries.

The research is the latest in a series of collaborations between the World Bank and UNICEF that started in 2016. It builds more closely on research from 2023 that examined global child poverty.

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