| Chapter 2: | Poverty and the Knowledge Economy |
on less that US$1 per day, to estimate that roughly 1.1 billion people lived within that category in 2001 (2004). Figure 2.1 shows that the majority of the world's extremely poor live in East Asia, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. As illustrated by the graph, the number of people in East Asia living on less than US$1 per day decreased drastically between 1981 and 2001, while during this same time period, the number increased in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite a slight decrease in South Asia, this region maintains the highest level of extreme poverty.
Individuals living on US$1–2 per day are considered moderately poor, according to World Bank statistical standards on household income. The same three regions shown in figure 2.1 are also home to the majority of the world's moderately poor. According to Chen
Figure 2.1. Number of people living on less than US$1 per day.
Source. Data from Chen and Ravallion (2004).