China is Poorer than we Thought, But No Less Successful in the Fight Against Poverty

In 2005, China participated for the first time in the International Comparison Program (ICP), which collects primary data across countries on the prices for an internationally comparable list of goods and services. This paper examines the implicati...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Chen, Shaohua, Ravallion, Martin
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE POVERTY CALORIES PER PERSON CALORIES PER PERSON PER DAY CITIES CONSUMER PRICE INDEX CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION POVERTY COST OF FOOD COST OF LIVING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING WORLD DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH EXCHANGE RATE EXTREME POVERTY FEWER PEOPLE FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY FOOD CONSUMPTION FOOD GOODS FOOD POVERTY FOOD POVERTY LINE FUNCTIONAL FORM GLOBAL POVERTY GROWTH RATE GROWTH RATES HIGH GROWTH HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSING INCIDENCE OF POVERTY INCOME INCOME POVERTY INEQUALITY INFLATION INTERNATIONAL POVERTY LINE INTERNATIONAL POVERTY LINES LEVEL OF POVERTY LOCAL CURRENCY LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY MEASURING POVERTY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS NATIONAL POVERTY NATIONAL POVERTY LINES NUMBER OF PEOPLE POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POOR POOR COUNTRIES POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT POPULOUS COUNTRY POVERTY ANALYSIS POVERTY ASSESSMENTS POVERTY ESTIMATES POVERTY MEASUREMENT POVERTY MEASURES POVERTY RATE POVERTY RATES POVERTY REDUCTION POVERTY SERIES PPP PROGRESS PURCHASING POWER PURCHASING POWER PARITY REDUCING POVERTY RESEARCH GROUP RESEARCH PROJECT RURAL RURAL AREAS RURAL LIVING STANDARDS RURAL PRICES SOCIAL WELFARE URBAN AREAS URBAN POPULATION URBAN POVERTY URBANIZATION WELFARE INDICATOR
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/05/9452484/china-poorer-thought-no-less-successful-fight-against-poverty http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6674

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Summary:	In 2005, China participated for the first time in the International Comparison Program (ICP), which collects primary data across countries on the prices for an internationally comparable list of goods and services. This paper examines the implications of the new Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) rate (derived by the ICP) for China's poverty rate (by international standards) and how it has changed over time. We provide estimates with and without adjustment for a likely sampling bias in the ICP data. Using an international poverty line of USD 1.25 at 2005 PPP, we find a substantially higher poverty rate for China than past estimates, with about 15% of the population living in consumption poverty, implying about 130 million more poor by this standard. The income poverty rate in 2005 is 10%, implying about 65 million more people living in poverty. However, the new ICP data suggest an even larger reduction in the number of poor since 1981.

China is Poorer than we Thought, But No Less Successful in the Fight Against Poverty

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