Pakistan placed among top performers in reducing extreme poverty

• Pakistan among top 15 countries that experienced the largest annual average percentage point declines in extreme poverty rate between about 2000 and 2015.
• Over 33.8mn people in Pakistan were out of extreme poverty during the period between 2001-15.

Despite facing a number of socio-economic challenges, Pakistan has still managed to be among the top 15 performing countries that have reduced extreme poverty in their countries in recent years.

As per World Bank’s Data Blog, Pakistan was among the top 15 countries that experienced the largest annual average percentage point declines in extreme poverty rate between about 2000 and 2015, out of the 114 countries.

As per the data, Pakistan's extreme poverty declined by a negative 1.8pc annually during the period 2001-15 annually. As per the report, over 33.8 million people in Pakistan were out of extreme poverty during the period between 2001-15, as 7.6 million people in Pakistan live in extreme poverty in 2015 as compared to 41.4 million people in 2000.

Overall, 802 million fewer people around the world lived in extreme poverty between 2000-2015.

Extreme poverty rate means population living in households with consumption or income per person below the extreme poverty line i.e. US$1.90 (2011 PPP) per day per capita.

Some of the 15 countries (China, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Vietnam) effectively eliminated extreme poverty by 2015. In others (e.g. India), low rates of extreme poverty in 2015 still persisted meaning that millions of people are still living in deprivation.