An estimated 824.3 million people, or 10.1% of the world’s population, lived in extreme poverty in 2024, according to the World Bank’s September 2026 update. That estimate uses a threshold of less than $3.00 per person per day in 2021 purchasing power parity, or PPP, terms. It is an estimate of the number of people living in extreme poverty around the world under that specific measure.
The global number changes when the poverty threshold, data, or method changes. A higher threshold includes more people whose resources fall above the extreme poverty line but remain limited. It is therefore important to know which line a figure uses before comparing it with another.
How Many People Live in Poverty in the World Under the Extreme Poverty Line?
The World Bank’s September 2026 update reports both the number and the share for 2024. It identifies 2024 as the latest year in that release with sufficient survey coverage for a global estimate. The same update includes estimates for later years based on projections; those figures should be identified as nowcasts rather than treated as complete survey counts.
How many people live in poverty in the world depends on the standard being applied. The 824.3 million figure answers a narrower question: how many fall below the World Bank’s international extreme poverty line. It does not include everyone who experiences financial hardship or falls below a national poverty line.
The estimate combines information from household surveys and other data rather than counting each person directly. Surveys are conducted at different times, and some country figures must be adjusted or estimated for a common year. New surveys and improved data can change an estimate after it is published.
What Does the $3.00 Threshold Mean?
The international line is expressed in 2021 international dollars per person per day. Purchasing power parity is a way to account for differences in price levels across countries so that resources can be compared on a common basis. It does not mean every person below the line receives exactly three U.S. dollars in cash each day.
Depending on available household surveys, the World Bank uses income or consumption information to estimate living standards. The measure is useful for comparisons across countries, but it cannot capture every aspect of a person’s situation, such as access to safe housing, education, or health care.
When asking how many people live in extreme poverty, the year and currency basis are part of the answer. The 2024 estimate describes conditions for that year, while the 2021 PPP label identifies the price-comparison basis used to express the threshold. The two dates describe different things.
Why Higher Poverty Lines Produce Larger Counts
The World Bank also uses international lines of $4.20 and $8.30 per person per day, both in 2021 PPP terms, to reflect poverty lines typical of lower-middle-income and upper-middle-income countries. Its explanation of the updated lines describes how the benchmarks were revised.
Consider a hypothetical person whose measured resources are above $3.00 but below $4.20 a day in the same PPP terms. That person would not be counted below the extreme poverty line, but would be included under the higher line. Raising the threshold adds people between the two cutoffs; it does not move the same person into a different income level.
How many people are in poverty is therefore a question that needs a specified line. National poverty lines can also reflect local conditions and policy purposes. A national estimate and an international estimate for the same place may differ because they use different standards and methods.
Comparing Estimates Across Time
Is poverty increasing? A sound comparison starts with estimates for different years that use the same threshold, PPP basis, geographic coverage, and data series. Compare both the share and the number of people: a falling share can coexist with a rising count if the population grows enough.
Changes between published estimates for the same year are different from changes over time. In March 2026 the World Bank estimated that 846.8 million people were below the extreme poverty line in 2024. Its September 2026 update revised that 2024 estimate to 824.3 million, incorporating new and improved data. Those two estimates do not show that 22.5 million people left poverty between March and September.
Earlier updates changed the measurement basis as well. In June 2025, the Bank moved from the $2.15 line in 2017 PPP terms to $3.00 in 2021 PPP terms and incorporated updated surveys and national poverty lines. A difference between estimates on those two bases can reflect the revision rather than an actual change between the years being compared.
For a trend, use a series recalculated on a consistent basis. The World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform provides data and documentation; check the release date and notes as well as the years shown. How much of the world lives in poverty can look different under different thresholds even when the underlying year is the same.
What the Estimate Can and Cannot Say
The estimate of poverty worldwide helps describe the scale of deprivation using one internationally comparable monetary measure. It is less suited to describing the daily experience of any particular household. People just above the cutoff can still struggle to afford necessities, and people below it may face circumstances that a single number does not describe.
How many people in the world live in poverty also depends on whether the question concerns extreme monetary poverty, a higher monetary threshold, or a broader measure of deprivation. These approaches can complement one another when their definitions are clear.
A Quick Guide to Reading the Numbers
- Identify the source and release: Estimates can be revised as new data become available.
- Check the year and threshold: A figure for 2024 below $3.00 answers a different question from one using a higher line.
- Read the PPP basis: The price-comparison year is not necessarily the year being measured.
- Separate estimates from projections: Later-year nowcasts use additional assumptions.
- Compare like with like: Use a consistent series and distinguish the number of people from the share of the population.