Number of world’s extreme poor ‘could pass a billion’

Economic damage caused by the pandemic could plunge 400 million more people into extreme poverty, according to a new study, with those in south and east Asia worst affected.

The paper, published by the UN, lays out several scenarios to estimate the coronavirus impact on global earnings.

In the worst-case scenario – a 20% loss of per capita earnings – the number of those living on $1.90 (£1.50) a day could rise to more than a billion. More than 3.7 billion people, over half the world’s population, could also see their earnings fall below $5.50 a day.

“The outlook for the world’s poorest looks grim unless governments do more and do it quickly and make up the daily loss of income the poor face,” said Andy Sumner, one of the report’s authors, according to Reuters.

“Progress on poverty reduction could be set back 20 to 30 years, making the UN goal of ending poverty look like a pipe dream.”