COVID-19 pushed nearly 71mn people into extreme poverty globally, 56mn were Indians, says World Bank report

A World Bank report says that COVID-19 pushed nearly 71 million people into extreme poverty globally, of which 79 per cent were from India. The report titled "Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2022" says that global extreme poverty rate increased from 8.4 per cent in 2019 to 9.3 per cent in 2020.

Over 700 million people were left impoverished by the end of 2020, the report says. It further said that most populous countries suffered the most, with India accounting for 56 million of the estimated 71 million people who fell into extreme poverty. However, China did not contribute much to the rise in global poverty despite being the most populated country in the world.

Data from Consumer Pyramids Household Survey (CPHS) conducted by a private data company, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy was used for the study as the Indian government has not released official data on poverty since 2011. "Given the country's size and importance for global and regional poverty estimates, the CPHS data help fill an important gap," the report stated.

When compared economically, China suffered a "moderate economic shock in 2020", while India witnessed a "pronounced economic contraction" in 2020, as per the report.

Lockdowns during the initial period of COVID-19 hit a chunk of the Indian population hard who had nowhere to turn to for their livelihood. Meanwhile, China still has in place measures to curb the spread of the virus, and all such closures are all having an impact on the country's economy.

The problem of extreme poverty is not expected to change soon, the report said, citing the Russia-Ukraine war, slowdown in China's economy and food and energy inflation as reasons.

Experts say that global economy is inching towards recession with most countries hit. The food crisis has aggravated across the world due to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Inflation is at an all-time high.

(With inputs from agencies)