Signal Poverty falling in 80% of countries while sub-Saharan extreme poverty stays at 46%

Summary

This signal shows headline poverty improving broadly while the deepest poverty persists in one region. UNDP expects poverty to decline in 80% of countries in 2025, including 75% of low-income countries, the largest share in a decade. Extreme poverty, however, stays stubbornly high in sub-Saharan Africa, affecting 46% of the population. UNDP places this within a picture of divergent recovery, where debt, climate stress and labour market disruption narrow routes to prosperity even where poverty rates fall. The contrast suggests that aggregate gains can mask entrenched deprivation, and it links to calls to measure poverty and progress differently.