World Bank Group · Poverty Headcount at $3.00 a Day, Line-up Estimates
Poverty, line-up estimates ($3.00 a day) by country
What share of people live on less than $3.00 a day, by the World Bank’s estimate for every year?
Of the 171 countries compared in 2024, 14 countries shared the lowest reading, 0.00%, and South Sudan had the highest reading, 89.54%. In the middle country the figure was 2.10%. Among the 167 countries measured in every edition since 1981, the middle one moved from 14.84% to 2.05%.
Share
Poverty, line-up estimates ($3.00 a day) · 2024
Context statistic
14 countries share the lowest value, 0.00% — no single country is named first.
012024 · values only
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 171 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
Lowest in 2024 · shared
14 countries share the lowest reading, 0.00%
No single country is named first: picking one from a shared value would be a choice the data does not make.
Highest in 2024
South Sudan89.54%
DR Congo82.34%
Mozambique81.12%
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
Lowest on each continent
- Africa
Algeria0.00% - Americas
Trinidad and Tobago0.00% - Asia
8 countries share 0.00%
- Europe
4 countries share 0.00%
- Oceania
Tonga0.39% - Every region
02Every measured country
Poverty, line-up estimates ($3.00 a day) on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 25.90–89.54%
- 4.54–24.64%
- 0.96–4.34%
- 0.22–0.92%
- 0.00–0.20%
- No reading in 2024 (1 measured in an earlier edition)
- Europe
0.33%
the middle country, of 40 measured · 49 members
4 share 0.00%
Kosovo7.91%Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Asia
1.65%
the middle country, of 40 measured · 52 members
8 share 0.00%
Yemen72.08%Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Americas
1.84%
the middle country, of 28 measured · 48 members
Trinidad and Tobago0.00%
Haiti46.34%Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Oceania
2.55%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 21 members
Tonga0.39%
Solomon Islands48.42%Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Africa
33.73%
the middle country, of 51 measured · 55 members
Algeria0.00%South Sudan89.54%Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Eastern Asia
0.06%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
2 share 0.00%
Japan0.96%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Western Europe
0.08%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Switzerland0.06%
Germany0.69%Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Eastern Europe
0.16%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
3 share 0.00%
Bulgaria1.00%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Northern Europe
0.33%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
2 share 0.08%
Lithuania1.08%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Asia
0.49%
the middle country, of 14 measured · 19 members
3 share 0.00%
Yemen72.08%Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Southern Europe
0.50%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 17 members
Slovenia0.00%Kosovo7.91%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Caribbean
0.78%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 24 members
Trinidad and Tobago0.00%Haiti46.34%Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Northern Africa
1.18%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Algeria0.00%
Sudan41.36%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- South America
2.16%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 12 members
Uruguay0.16%
Colombia8.50%Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Southern Asia
2.34%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
2 share 0.00%
Pakistan22.32%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Central Asia
2.40%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Kazakhstan0.02%
Tajikistan6.13%Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Central America
3.73%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Belize0.64%
Honduras15.72%Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- South-eastern Asia
6.26%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 11 members
Malaysia0.00%
Timor-Leste50.46%Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Southern Africa
22.72%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
South Africa17.56%
Lesotho44.89%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Western Africa
32.14%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Mauritania8.74%
Niger54.96%Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Middle Africa
39.94%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Gabon4.92%DR Congo82.34%Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Eastern Africa
47.47%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Mauritius0.48%South Sudan89.54%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
1 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia.
Australia0.84%Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Fiji3.64%Solomon Islands48.42%Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
4 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru.
Kiribati0.61%
Micronesia24.64%Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada0.22%
United States1.02%Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.
Tonga0.39%
Samoa1.92%Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
171 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 2.10%; a quarter are above 17.98%, and a quarter below 0.39%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 172 ever measured
Every country
In order, lowest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. This is not the same series as poverty at $3.00 a day measured survey by survey, and the two can differ even in a survey year, because the line-up re-aligns each survey to the calendar year. Use this one to compare every country in the same year and the survey series for what was actually measured. Many high-income countries read exactly zero and share that end, so no position is given.
Showing 25 of 172 countries
Values for 2024. The change column compares 2024 with 2023 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
051981–2024 · 44 reference years
Over time
Each point is one year, but only some are surveys. A year between two surveys is interpolated, and a year after the latest survey is that survey carried forward with economic growth — so a smooth recent stretch can be growth arithmetic rather than new evidence. Every row says how it was made.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 167 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 171 | 2.10% | 0.39% – 17.98% | 2.05% |
| 2023 | 171 | 2.33% | 0.38% – 18.73% | 2.32% |
| 2022 | 171 | 2.82% | 0.42% – 18.87% | 2.69% |
| 2021 | 171 | 2.96% | 0.34% – 19.51% | 2.94% |
| 2020 | 171 | 3.35% | 0.44% – 20.34% | 3.34% |
| 2019 | 171 | 2.76% | 0.35% – 19.02% | 2.71% |
| 2018 | 171 | 3.18% | 0.42% – 20.17% | 3.07% |
| 2017 | 171 | 3.38% | 0.51% – 20.25% | 3.38% |
| 2016 | 171 | 3.80% | 0.52% – 21.67% | 3.80% |
| 2015 | 171 | 4.21% | 0.67% – 22.19% | 4.21% |
| 2014 | 172 | 4.46% | 0.69% – 23.94% | 4.32% |
| 2013 | 172 | 4.46% | 0.71% – 25.16% | 4.42% |
| 2012 | 172 | 5.57% | 0.76% – 26.43% | 5.43% |
| 2011 | 172 | 5.81% | 0.50% – 28.65% | 5.34% |
| 2010 | 172 | 7.44% | 0.60% – 28.83% | 5.96% |
| 2009 | 172 | 8.41% | 0.63% – 33.07% | 7.92% |
| 2008 | 172 | 8.15% | 0.50% – 33.86% | 7.70% |
| 2007 | 171 | 8.74% | 0.61% – 36.22% | 8.73% |
| 2006 | 171 | 9.42% | 0.72% – 37.69% | 9.04% |
| 2005 | 171 | 11.76% | 1.04% – 39.61% | 11.66% |
| 2004 | 171 | 11.95% | 1.02% – 39.44% | 11.54% |
| 2003 | 171 | 12.54% | 1.30% – 44.36% | 12.54% |
| 2002 | 171 | 15.90% | 1.37% – 45.51% | 15.90% |
| 2001 | 171 | 14.74% | 1.48% – 47.81% | 16.05% |
| 2000 | 171 | 16.14% | 1.23% – 47.57% | 16.34% |
| 1999 | 170 | 17.49% | 1.13% – 47.26% | 17.72% |
| 1998 | 170 | 17.56% | 1.03% – 46.28% | 17.79% |
| 1997 | 170 | 18.10% | 1.20% – 47.15% | 18.38% |
| 1996 | 170 | 16.21% | 1.69% – 47.79% | 16.79% |
| 1995 | 170 | 17.52% | 1.95% – 52.20% | 17.54% |
| 1994 | 170 | 17.43% | 1.78% – 52.14% | 17.78% |
| 1993 | 170 | 16.44% | 1.64% – 52.88% | 16.67% |
| 1992 | 170 | 16.45% | 1.33% – 51.42% | 16.51% |
| 1991 | 170 | 16.68% | 1.33% – 51.18% | 16.84% |
| 1990 | 170 | 16.10% | 1.26% – 51.52% | 16.16% |
| 1989 | 169 | 15.98% | 1.22% – 50.54% | 16.20% |
| 1988 | 169 | 16.46% | 1.00% – 51.21% | 16.70% |
| 1987 | 169 | 16.56% | 1.04% – 52.66% | 17.11% |
| 1986 | 169 | 16.00% | 0.98% – 52.34% | 16.68% |
| 1985 | 169 | 16.08% | 1.12% – 51.38% | 16.71% |
| 1984 | 168 | 15.55% | 1.05% – 52.41% | 15.90% |
| 1983 | 168 | 15.56% | 1.25% – 53.34% | 15.82% |
| 1982 | 168 | 14.95% | 1.32% – 55.29% | 15.20% |
| 1981 | 168 | 14.67% | 1.34% – 55.83% | 14.84% |
062023 → 2024
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → afterWorsened most
before → after- Sudan33.84% → 41.36%+7.52
- Timor-Leste43.76% → 50.46%+6.70
- South Sudan83.22% → 89.54%+6.32
Ecuador4.68% → 7.32%+2.64
Palestine2.08% → 4.54%+2.46
171 countries were measured in both 2023 and 2024.
07Across every edition
Poverty, line-up estimates ($3.00 a day) in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
99.70%
Population below $3.00 a day, 2021 PPP, World Bank line-up estimate (%)
Lowest reading on record
Reached 429 times by 39 countries — shared, so no holder is named
0.00%
Population below $3.00 a day, 2021 PPP, World Bank line-up estimate (%)
Biggest improvement between editions
−75.62
83.94% → 8.32%
Biggest decline between editions
+40.42
1.84% → 42.26%
Most improved since first measured
−97.00
97.00% → 0.00%
08The measure
About poverty, line-up estimates ($3.00 a day)
These are the World Bank’s line-up estimates of the share of people living on less than $3.00 a day: one figure for every country in every year, the numbers the Bank adds up into its regional and world poverty counts. Where a country ran no household survey in a year, the Bank estimates the figure from the surveys it did run.
What the number is: Population below $3.00 a day, 2021 PPP, World Bank line-up estimate (%).
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Development & Human Capital and Poverty & Inequality, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Development & Human CapitalPoverty & InequalityWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where poverty, line-up estimates ($3.00 a day) is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Working Poverty RateILO · 111 countries in commonρ 0.97
- Multidimensional Poverty MeasureWorld Bank Group · 141 countries in commonρ 0.92
- Share of Population Unable to Afford a Healthy DietKeyFAO · 145 countries in commonρ 0.88
Moves against
Where poverty, line-up estimates ($3.00 a day) is higher, these tend to be lower.
- GNI per Capita (PPP)World Bank Group · 95 countries in commonρ −0.87
- Access to ElectricityWorld Bank Group · 169 countries in commonρ −0.86
- Access to Electricity, RuralWorld Bank Group · 165 countries in commonρ −0.85
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 378 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The countries at either end
More from World Bank Group
11Questions
Poverty, line-up estimates ($3.00 a day): questions and answers
Which country has the lowest poverty, line-up estimates ($3.00 a day)?
14 countries share the lowest reading, 0.00%, among the 171 compared in 2024, so no single country is named.
Which country has the highest poverty, line-up estimates ($3.00 a day)?
South Sudan, at 89.54%, among the 171 countries compared in 2024.
How many countries does the Poverty Headcount at $3.00 a Day, Line-up Estimates cover?
171 in 2024, and 172 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 168 to 172 between editions.
What is the world average poverty, line-up estimates ($3.00 a day)?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 171 compared in 2024, the figure was 2.10%.
Is this World Bank Group’s own ranking?
No ranking is shown. World Bank Group publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.
How often is the Poverty Headcount at $3.00 a Day, Line-up Estimates published?
This site holds 44 reference years, 1981–2024, all recalculated in World Bank Group’s 2026 report on one method — not 44 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Bank Group, under CC BY 4.0. Read from the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform with its gaps filled. The Bank’s model estimates for economies with no survey at all are left out, as the Bank leaves them off its own website, and years it labels as nowcasts are not included. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Poverty Headcount at $3.00 a Day, Line-up Estimates — World Bank Group
Read from the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform with its gaps filled. The Bank’s model estimates for economies with no survey at all are left out, as the Bank leaves them off its own website, and years it labels as nowcasts are not included.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year 2024
Cite the source as: World Bank. Poverty and Inequality Platform. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- No rank or position is shown: World Bank Group publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Poverty, line-up estimates ($3.00 a day) by country: Poverty Headcount at $3.00 a Day, Line-up Estimates, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/poverty-headcount-lineup