A Global Count of the Extreme Poor in 2012 : Data Issues, Methodology and Initial Results

The 2014 release of a new set of purchasing power parity conversion factors (PPPs) for 2011 has prompted a revision of the international poverty line. In order to preserve the integrity of the goalposts for international targets such as the Sustain...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Ferreira, Francisco H. G., Chen, Shaohua, Dabalen, Andrew, Dikhanov, Yuri, Hamadeh, Nada, Jolliffe, Dean, Narayan, Ambar, Prydz, Espen Beer, Revenga, Ana, Sangraula, Prem, Serajuddin, Umar, Yoshida, Nobuo
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2015
Subjects:	LIVING STANDARDS PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION POVERTY THRESHOLD REGIONAL COMPOSITION RISKS HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SIZE CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES POVERTY LINE ECONOMIC GROWTH REGIONAL PATTERNS POVERTY LEVELS INCOME POVERTY INCOME FOOD CONSUMPTION REGIONAL AGGREGATES POVERTY ESTIMATES POVERTY RATES INCOME REGIONS NATIONAL POVERTY LINE CONSUMPTION DATA HOUSING POLITICAL ECONOMY FOOD POLICY RURAL INCOMES NATIONAL POVERTY REGIONAL PROFILE POOR PEOPLE EXTREME POVERTY LINE INTERNATIONAL POVERTY LINES DEVELOPMENT GOALS GLOBAL POVERTY RURAL POPULATION CURRENT POVERTY MEASURES POVERTY MEASURES NATIONAL POVERTY LINES REGION POVERTY REDUCTION REGIONAL POVERTY MEASURING POVERTY FOOD POVERTY LINE POVERTY GAP FOOD PRICE INTERNATIONAL POVERTY COMPARISONS POLITICAL CONSTRAINTS EXCHANGE RATES POVERTY INCIDENCE INTERNATIONAL POVERTY LINE HOUSEHOLD INCOME DATA ISSUES ESTIMATES OF POVERTY INFLATION RATE HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE FOOD EXPENDITURES CONSUMPTION POVERTY REGIONAL LEVELS CHANGES IN POVERTY CARIBBEAN REGION POVERTY HEADCOUNT RATE POVERTY PROFILE FOOD ITEMS RURAL POVERTY LINE WELFARE VARIABLE POVERTY LINES CONSUMPTION POVERTY DATA HUMAN ENERGY COUNTRY LEVEL DEVELOPMENT REPORT POVERTY COMPARISONS FOOD POVERTY POVERTY MEASUREMENT AGGREGATE POVERTY REGIONAL DIFFERENCES INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS POOR COUNTRIES RURAL POVERTY RATES MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY CONSUMPTION MEASURE RURAL POVERTY INCOME DISTRIBUTION ABSOLUTE POVERTY RURAL POVERTY LINES RURAL NUTRITION AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POOR POPULATION WELFARE MEASURES REGIONS EXTREME POVERTY SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION ABSOLUTE POVERTY LINE RURAL AREAS POVERTY REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION NATIONAL POVERTY HEADCOUNT ABSOLUTE TERMS INCIDENCE OF POVERTY HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION REGIONAL POVERTY MEASURES POVERTY UPDATE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX DECLINE IN POVERTY POLICY RESEARCH POVERTY RATE POOR POVERTY ASSESSMENT CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA FOOD PRICES POVERTY ANALYSIS DEVELOPMENT POLICY INEQUALITY SPATIAL DIFFERENCES POOR PERSON
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/10/25114899/global-count-extreme-poor-2012-data-issues-methodology-initial-results http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22854

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Summary:	The 2014 release of a new set of purchasing power parity conversion factors (PPPs) for 2011 has prompted a revision of the international poverty line. In order to preserve the integrity of the goalposts for international targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the World Bank’s twin goals, the new poverty line was chosen so as to preserve the definition and real purchasing power of the earlier $1.25 line (in 2005 PPPs) in poor countries. Using the new 2011 PPPs, the new line equals $1.90 per person per day. The higher value of the line in US dollars reflects the fact that the new PPPs yield a relatively lower purchasing power of that currency vis-à-vis those of most poor countries. Because the line was designed to preserve real purchasing power in poor countries, the revisions lead to relatively small changes in global poverty incidence: from 14.5 percent in the old method to 14.1 percent in the new method for 2011. In 2012, the new reference year for the global count, we find 12.7 percent of the world’s population, or 897 million people, are living in extreme poverty. There are changes in the regional composition of poverty, but they are also relatively small. This paper documents the detailed methodological decisions taken in the process of updating both the poverty line and the consumption and income distributions at the country level, including issues of inter-temporal and spatial price adjustments. It also describes various caveats, limitations, perils and pitfalls of the approach taken.

A Global Count of the Extreme Poor in 2012 : Data Issues, Methodology and Initial Results

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