Global poverty could be up to a third higher than reported

With over one billion people in the world living on less than $1.25 per day, the World Bank aims to end 'extreme poverty' by 2030. But new research suggests that global poverty figures could be underestimated by up to a third, and calls for more robust measurement in the future.

The World Bank figures are widely used by the international community and play a significant role in international strategies to reduce poverty. Critics argue that its estimates are flawed because the 'dollar a day' poverty line is too arbitrary, and insufficiently anchored to any specification of basic human needs.