China has dramatically reduced extreme poverty, claiming eradication by official metrics (low $2.20/day), but faces questions about its low standard; the U.S. has higher poverty rates by its own measures (e.g., 11.4% in 2020) and faces issues like homelessness, though its absolute poverty lines are higher, reflecting different economic structures and challenges in each nation.
South Sudan is widely considered the poorest country in the world in 2025-2026, consistently ranking first due to extremely low GDP per capita and a high percentage (over 80%) of its population living in extreme poverty, driven by prolonged civil conflict, displacement, and disruption of its agricultural economy. Other nations frequently cited as among the poorest include Burundi, the Central African Republic, and Yemen, also suffering from conflict and instability.
South Sudan has the highest poverty rate, with approximately 82.3% of its population living in extreme poverty, largely due to ongoing civil conflict and economic collapse. 2. What are some of the poorest countries in terms of poverty rate as of 2026?
No, the U.S. is richer than China overall by most measures like nominal GDP and wealth per person, but China's economy is larger when adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) and it leads in some areas like manufacturing output, though average living standards remain lower in China. The U.S. has the world's largest economy by nominal GDP, but China's economy, when considering what money can buy domestically (PPP), is larger, although per capita figures show the U.S. is much wealthier per person.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States has the highest poverty rate among the world's 26 most developed countries.
Unlike China, the US did not offer much to the people eking out a living around the poverty line. Per head, the US's economic output is six times China's, and yet, inexplicably, there seem to be more abjectly poor Americans than Chinese.
As of 2020, China has succeeded in eradicating absolute poverty, but not the poverty defined for upper middle-income countries which China belongs to. China still has around 13% of its population falling below this poverty line of $5.50 per day in 2020.
The richest country by GDP (PPP) per capita is often cited as Singapore, followed closely by Luxembourg, depending on the specific report and year, with Singapore leading in 2025 estimates with around $156,000-$157,000 per person, while Luxembourg is a strong contender just below that, highlighting small, finance-heavy economies as wealthiest per person.
By 2024, however, China's $18tn economy had fallen back to just over 62% of the almost $30tn of the US. In GDP per head terms, China is still no more than 20% of the US. A rising China uniquely lifted its share of global GDP between 2000 and 2021 from 3.5% to 18.5%, but since then it has slipped back to about 16.5%.
It really depends on what you're going to do with that $100. If you're living a western style of life with food, $100 US in the cities would be like $120 US maybe? It'll stretch out a little. But if you're eating like the locals, buying groceries and the like, this can be a small fortune.
But despite the economic uptick of recent years, Tasmania is still the poorest Australian state.
Iceland stands at the top of countries with the lowest poverty rates with a poverty rate of 4.9% in 2021. In 2017, Iceland's poverty rate even hit 0%, according to the World Bank. Some factors contributing to low poverty are: Work Satisfaction.
In 2017–18, the Resolution Foundation said the official poverty rate increased from 22.1% to 23.2% and the child poverty rate rose in 2017–18 from 30.3% to 33.4%. Cuts to benefits and inflation are blamed for the rise, benefit levels have remained unchanged in money terms while inflation erodes their real value.
Today, almost 700 million people (8.5 percent of the global population) live in extreme poverty - on less than $2.15 per day. Progress has stalled amid low growth, setbacks due to COVID-19, and increased fragility. Poverty rates in low-income countries are higher than before the pandemic.
Since the U.S. dollar has a variable exchange rate, however, any sale by any nation holding huge U.S. debt or dollar reserves will trigger the adjustment of the trade balance at the international level. The offloaded U.S. reserves by China will either end up with another nation or will return to the U.S.
By 2050, China is projected to be the world's richest country by total GDP, leading a significant shift where emerging economies like India, Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia rise to challenge traditional giants, with the U.S. potentially falling to third, while Singapore might become the richest per capita (PPP), though these predictions depend heavily on technological progress, political stability, and growth rates.
China has received significant coverage as either a potential or established superpower. The European Union, Russia and India have also been discussed as potential superpowers of the 21st century; Japan was a former candidate in the 1980s.
Yes, Australia is widely considered a rich country, consistently ranking among the world's wealthiest by metrics like GDP per capita and median wealth per adult, often placing second or fifth globally due to strong resources (mining, agriculture) and high real estate values, though this wealth coexists with significant wealth inequality and a reliance on a narrow economic base.
Which country has the fastest growing GDP in the world? Guyana has the fastest growing GDP in the world in 2025. While countries like India and South Sudan are showing a high growth rate, Guyana's oil production boom makes the country to be at the forefront of economic expansion.
China has the second-largest financial assets in the world, valued at $17.9 trillion as of 2021. China was the largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the world as of 2020, receiving inflows of $163 billion.
The poverty rate then fell rapidly in China, equalling India's rate by the mid-1990s. Now the poverty rate is far higher in India.
Gansu is among the poorest administrative divisions in China, ranking last in GDP per capita as of 2019. The state of Qin originated in what is now southeastern Gansu, and later established the first imperial dynasty in Chinese history.