Nigeria Replaces India as Home to Largest Number of Poor People in The World
By 2021, the survey claims only 3 per cent of India's population will be living under extreme poverty.
New Delhi, July 10: For decades, India was home to the largest number of poor people in the world. But a fresh study has transferred the undesirable tag to Nigeria, a struggling third-world economy in Africa.
According to a recent research undertaken by Brookings Institution, Nigeria surpassed India in May in terms of housing the maximum number of people residing in 'extreme poverty'.
To arrive at the conclusion, the research relied on the data collected in real-time by the World Poverty Clock. In order maintain conformity, the data tags a citizen as poor if he/she is surviving on less than $1.90 per day.
As of Monday, the number of 'poor people' residing in Nigeria clocked to 87 million, whereas, it was recorded as 70.6 million in India.
The survey offers further glimmer of hope for India as the number of people categorised as poor is dropping by 44 each minute. By 2021, the survey claims only 3 per cent of India's population will be living under extreme poverty.
On the other hand, the number of 'poor residents' in Nigeria is adding up by 6 per minute.
The research has highlighted a continental issue, with Africa accounting for two-thirds of the world poor. If the region fails to tackle the economic crisis, it would account for ninth-tenth of world's poverty by 2030.
"In fact, by the end of 2018 in Africa as a whole, there will probably be about 3.2 million more people living in extreme poverty than there are today," the survey adds. Not only the number one spot, the study claims the number 2 will soon be bagged by the continent as the Democratic Republic of Congo is poised to replace India by the end of the year.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 10, 2018 08:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).