China's Four Decades of Journey: Lifting 770 Million People Out of Poverty.
Throughout human history, no other country has ever lifted as many people out of extreme poverty within such a short period of time. In total, China lifted nearly 100 million people out of extreme poverty, which is nearly one-third of the US population.
Using the SPM, 46.0 million people were lifted out of poverty in 2020, a year-over-year increase of 14.5 million people. The number of people kept out of poverty by government assistance as measured by the SPM (45.4 million) in 2021 was not statistically different from 2020.
Iceland stands at the top of countries with the lowest poverty rates with a poverty rate of 4.9% in 2021.
Poverty gap at $2.15 a day (2017 PPP) (%) - China
World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database.
This statistic illustrates the distribution of adult population in China in 2020 by wealth range group. That year, approximately 12.5 percent of adults in China had wealth of 100,000 to one million U.S. dollars. In comparison, around 54.3 percent of adult population in Hong Kong were in this wealth range group.
How China Escaped the Poverty Trap... is an original and insightful take on what is perhaps the biggest development puzzle of my lifetime. This book is a triumph, opening a window onto the political economy of China's astonishing rise that takes as its starting point systems and complexity.
Poverty was highest among younger and older people in 2019-20, but COVID income supports did much to reduce it among children and young people. The average rate of poverty in 2019-20 was 17% among children, 14% among young people 15-24 years of age, 12% among people aged 25-64 years, and 14% among older people.
Poverty rates were highest in the states of Mississippi (19.58%), Louisiana (18.65%), New Mexico (18.55%), West Virginia (17.10%), Kentucky (16.61%), and Arkansas (16.08%), and they were lowest in the states of New Hampshire (7.42%), Maryland (9.02%), Utah (9.13%), Hawaii (9.26%), and Minnesota (9.33%).
After four decades of policy implementations and effective governance, China declared itself successful in lifting 770 million of its citizens out of poverty.
At its peak in 1995, the total number of people living in extreme poverty was 2.7 times that of 1820.
Currently, 1 billion people worldwide live on less than one dollar a day, the threshold defined by the international community as constituting extreme poverty. Yet, this number masks a multitude of people living in varying degrees of poverty, some even more desperately poor than others.
China's trade and investment reforms and incentives led to a surge in FDI beginning in the early 1990s. Such flows have been a major source of China's productivity gains and rapid economic and trade growth.
Since China began to open up and reform its economy in 1978, GDP growth has averaged over 9 percent a year, and more than 800 million people have lifted themselves out of poverty. There have also been significant improvements in access to health, education, and other services over the same period.
SHANGHAI, March 23 (Reuters) - More than 400 people lost their billionaire status last year, most from China, as global monetary tightening, COVID-19 disruptions and Beijing's crackdown on major tech companies hurt the super wealthy, a ranking of the world's wealthiest showed.
There are two broad views as to why people stay poor. One emphasizes differences in fundamentals, such as ability, talent or motivation. The other, the poverty traps view, differences in opportunities which stem from access to wealth.
South Sudan
The very poorest of the world's poorest countries, South Sudan has been wracked by violence since its creation in 2011.
Africa is considered the poorest continent on Earth. Almost every second person living in the states of sub-Saharan Africa lives below the poverty line. Particularly affected by poverty in Africa are the weakest members of society, their children and women.
Australia is a signatory to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The first of these goals is “No poverty”. However, Australia has the 15th highest poverty rate out of the 34 wealthiest countries in the OECD – higher than the average for the OECD; higher than the UK, Germany and New Zealand.
Poverty does exist in wealthy countries like Australia. A 2022 study found that 3.3 million people in Australia live below the poverty line, including 761,000 children.
The average annual salary in Australia is $68,900 and $35.30 per hour. It is just the average salary for basic workers but skilled and experienced workers also earn around $108,980 annually. The average salary also varies depending on the field of work and the job role of workers.
Yet again, the central collective leadership committed itself firmly to poverty elimination, with leader Deng Xiaoping declaring “Poverty is not socialism; socialism means eliminating poverty”. In the pursuit of this goal, Deng Xiaoping opened up China's economy, to massive economic success.
- The start of the Industrial Revolution ushered in a period of rapid economic development, eradicating widespread poverty in what is now known as the developed world. During the twentieth century, the global GDP per human quintupled.
By the mid-nineteenth century China's population reached 450 million or more, more than three times the level in 1500. The inevitable results were land shortages, famine, and an increasingly impoverished rural population. Heavy taxes, inflation, and greedy local officials further worsened the farmer's situation.