We have seen that 10% of the world live in extreme poverty as defined by the UN. How large is the share of the world that lives in moderate poverty? The latest global data tells us that 85% of the world population live on less than $30 per day. These are 6.5 billion people.
How many people live in poverty around the world? According to the World Bank, about 9.2% of the world, or 719 million people, live in extreme poverty, on less than $2.15 a day. In the United States, 11.6% of the population — 37.9 million people — lived in poverty as of 2021.
Almost a quarter of the global population, 23 percent, lived below the US$3.65 poverty line, and almost half, 47 percent, lived below the US$6.85 poverty line, as reported in the 2022 Poverty and Shared Prosperity report.
After taking account of housing costs, on average in 2019-20 one in eight people (13.4%) and one in six children (16.6%) lived below the poverty line. Over three million (3,319,000) people lived in poverty, including 761,000 children.
Currently, 1 billion people worldwide live on less than one dollar a day, the threshold defined by the international community as constituting extreme poverty. Yet, this number masks a multitude of people living in varying degrees of poverty, some even more desperately poor than others.
Although living on $10 a day to cover your discretionary expenses is absolutely possible, it will likely be a challenge. Without a strong sense of willpower and a plan, it can be even more difficult. But luckily, there is a solution to help you stay on track: budgeting apps.
Bottom Line. Living on $1,000 per month is a challenge. From the high costs of housing, transportation and food, plus trying to keep your bills to a minimum, it would be difficult for anyone living alone to make this work. But with some creativity, roommates and strategy, you might be able to pull it off.
2021 or latest data
The OECD's estimate for the overall rate of poverty in Australia according to this graph is 12.6% (compared with our estimate for 2019-20 of 13.4%). This makes Australia's poverty rate the 15th highest among the 38 OECD countries.
What is the poverty line? The OECD defines the poverty line as half the median household income. In Australia, the poverty line works out to be $489 per week for a single adult, and $1027 per week for a couple with two children.
How does poverty in Australia compare with other countries? In the most recent data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2021 or latest data), Australia had the 15th highest poverty rate of 36 OECD countries.
The latest global data tells us that 85% of the world population live on less than $30 per day. These are 6.5 billion people. Relying on a higher poverty line of $45 per day you find that 92% live in poverty, and using a lower poverty line of $20 per day you find that 78% live in poverty.
Rich people are happier than poorer people on average, and richer countries are happier than poorer countries. And yet growing national wealth is not always accompanied by growing national happiness. This is the famous Easterlin Paradox, named after economist Richard Easterlin, who first observed a puzzling phenomenon.
There has been marked progress in reducing poverty over the past decades. According to the most recent estimates, in 2015, 10 per cent of the world's population lived at or below $1.90 a day. That's down from 16 per cent in 2010 and 36 per cent in 1990. This means that ending extreme poverty is within our reach.
There are two broad views as to why people stay poor. One emphasizes differences in funda- mentals, such as ability, talent or motivation. The other, the poverty traps view, differences in opportunities which stem from access to wealth.
Iceland. Iceland stands at the top of countries with the lowest poverty rates with a poverty rate of 4.9% in 2021.
This might seem like a no-brainer: Without a job or a livelihood, people will face poverty. Dwindling access to productive land (often due to conflict, overpopulation, or climate change) and overexploitation of resources like fish or minerals puts increasing pressure on many traditional livelihoods.
Australia is a highly developed country with a mixed economy. As of 2023, Australia was the 13th-largest national economy by nominal GDP (gross domestic product), the 19th-largest by PPP-adjusted GDP, and was the 20th-largest goods exporter and 24th-largest goods importer.
A living wage is calculated as 60% of the Median Full-Time Adult Wage in Australia. The median is a measure of the midpoint. In Australia, a Living Wage is $27 per hour.
The average annual salary in Australia is $68,900 and $35.30 per hour. It is just the average salary for basic workers but skilled and experienced workers also earn around $108,980 annually. The average salary also varies depending on the field of work and the job role of workers.
When measured by average wealth, Australia is fourth behind Switzerland, the United States and Hong Kong, reflecting that wealth is more evenly distributed in Australia than in those countries. Australia had about 2.2 million millionaires (calculated in US dollars) in 2021, up from 1.8 million millionaires in 2020.
The state with the highest poverty rate is Tasmania (12.7 per cent) followed by South Australia and Queensland with 11.1 and 9.9 per cent of their respective populations in poverty.
Measured using the well-accepted Gini methodology, the actuaries calculated Australia's Gini coefficient for individuals to be 0.46 (where zero refers to low inequality and one is high inequality). Australia's Gini has increased seven percentage points over the past 40 years, the report observed.
Costs and Lifestyle
As we noted up top, with $10 million you can generate more than enough income to live a very comfortable life. After all, even if we disregard all investments and gains entirely, this portfolio is still enough money to take out $100,000 per year, every year for the next century.
To sum it up, how long a million dollars will last in retirement depends on your lifestyle and how much income you need to cover your basic living expenses. If you are careful with your spending, your $1 million could last many years. However, your $1 million may not last as long if you have a lavish lifestyle.