Since 2015, global poverty reduction was already slowing down and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic reversed three decades of steady progress with the number of people living in extreme poverty increasing for the first time in a generation. Recovery from the pandemic has been slow and uneven as the world is presently facing multiple geopolitical, socioeconomic, and climatic risks. Given current trends, 575 million people (nearly 7% of the world’s population) will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030 compared to 800 million in 2015 (or 10.8%). Eradicating extreme poverty will be particularly difficult in sub-Saharan Africa and conflict-affected areas. Despite the expansion of social protection during COVID-19, over 4 billion people globally remain entirely unprotected. A surge in action and investment to enhance job opportunities and extend social services to the most excluded is crucial to delivering on the central commitment to ending poverty.

Target 1.1: Since 2019, 70 million more people were pushed back into extreme poverty - currently defined as those who live on less than $2.15 per person per day at 2017 purchasing power parity. The rate increased from 8.5% in 2019 to 9.3% in 2020. By the end of 2022, nowcasting suggests 8.4% of the world population or as many as 670 million people could still be living in extreme poverty today and that the figure will drop to 575 million by 2030 – a fall of less than 30% since 2015.

Target 1.2: Given historical trends, only one-third of countries will have halved their national poverty rates by 2030 from 2015.

Target 1.3: By 2020, only 47% of the global population was effectively covered by at least one social protection cash benefit, slightly improved from 45% in 2015. Only 26% of children under 15 received a social protection benefit; only one in three persons with severe disabilities worldwide receive a disability benefit; only 35% of workers are covered in case of work injury; and only 18.6% of unemployed workers worldwide are effectively covered.

Target 1.4: Shifting public resources towards essential services is one of the key policy interventions for reducing poverty and building a better social safety net. The 2021 data for 100 countries shows that the global average proportion of total government spending on essential services is approximately 53%, with an overall average of 62% for advanced economies and 44% for emerging market and developing economies.