The world bank has released a report lamenting the high poverty level in the globe.
It said about 700 million people—or 8.5 percent of the global population—live in extreme poverty on less than $2.15 a day.
The bank also added that around 3.5 billion people live on less than $6.85 a day.
In a report,” 2024 Key Development Challenges in Nine Charts, How the World Is Off-Track to Reduce Poverty”, the bank noted that the poverty line was more relevant for middle-income countries, which are home to three-quarters of the world’s population.
Without drastic action, the bank warned that it could take decades to eradicate extreme poverty.
As at this year, the bank maintained that over one-third of people in countries eligible for support from its International Development Association (IDA), and more than half of those in Sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing multidimensional poverty, highlighting how persistent development challenges remain.
Earlier this month, it continued that IDA, which offers concessional lending to 78 low-income countries, raised $23.7 billion to boost development for these countries for 2025-28.
IDA is expected to generate $100 billion in affordable financing to help countries spur job growth, deliver better quality health care, improve education, expand electricity access, enhance food security and nutrition, and much more.
The COVID-19 pandemic, it highlighted, sharply increased the debt burdens of all developing countries—and the subsequent surge in global interest rates has made it harder for many to regain their footing.
At the end of last year, the bank noted that the total external debt owed by low- and middle-income countries stood at a record $8.8 trillion, an 8 percent increase from 2020.
Since 2022, the World Bank and other multilateral institutions have invested nearly $51 billion to help tackle the growing debt crisis in IDA-eligible economies.
According to it, estimates from 103 countries, which make up 86 percent of the global population, show that 1.2 billion people are exposed to at least one climate-related hazard and are highly vulnerable in at least one dimension in 2021.
Out of the 1.2 billion people that faced climate-related hazards and high vulnerability, the report revealed that South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa were among the most affected regions.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, it indicated that around 40 percent of the population is exposed to climate shocks, and almost all of the population is considered at high risk.
This year, it posited that the World Bank Group delivered a record $43 billion in climate finance and are channeling 45 percent of its annual financing to climate action by 2025.
