World Bank Introduction to the Inequality in Focus Series , April 2012: “The world has become considerably less poor in the past three decades. In 1981, almost three fourths of citizens in the developing world lived on less than $2 a day. This rate has dropped dramatically so now 43 percent are poor. Moreover, despite a 35
percent increase in global population, there are slightly fewer people living on less than $2 a day today (2.47 billion) than there were three decades ago (2.59 billion). Extreme poverty declined even more. The share of those living on less than $1.25 a day—the minimum level of consumption needed to meet basic human needs in the poorest countries—has fallen by more than half, from 52 percent in 1981 to 22 percent in 2008. Hence, 1.29 billion people live in abject poverty.”