[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:11:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","global",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"work",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","30299f092a52e74df8d457df05372ea9","Entry","2021-11-11T07:17:16.072Z","2026-01-22T09:12:02.272Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",356,158,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"globalId":36,"answers":37,"answersAsImages":58,"wrongPercentage":94,"ruleOfThumbs":95,"name":116,"questionText":117,"statistics":118,"veryWrongStatistics":153,"correctSentence":193,"youWereWrong":194,"youWereRight":195,"dataSourceShortText":196,"dataSourceLinkLongText":197,"extendedAnswerText":198,"headingVeryWrong":199,"youWereVeryWrong":194,"headingWrong":199},"11",[38,60,77],{"metadata":39,"sys":42,"fields":55},{"tags":40,"concepts":41},[],[],{"space":43,"id":45,"type":21,"createdAt":46,"updatedAt":47,"environment":48,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":52,"locale":34},{"sys":44},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"62e35ee9d3c5e051f83ed8b0756baa19","2021-11-11T07:17:16.122Z","2026-01-22T09:12:02.352Z",{"sys":49},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},153,140,{"sys":53},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},"answer",{"globalId":56,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":59},"11-a1",true,false,"Around 9%",{"metadata":61,"sys":64,"fields":74},{"tags":62,"concepts":63},[],[],{"space":65,"id":67,"type":21,"createdAt":68,"updatedAt":69,"environment":70,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":72,"locale":34},{"sys":66},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"9f0f860cd8afbfce5631861363f9f675","2021-11-11T07:17:16.152Z","2026-01-22T09:12:02.388Z",{"sys":71},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":73},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":75,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":76},"11-a2","Around 37%",{"metadata":78,"sys":81,"fields":91},{"tags":79,"concepts":80},[],[],{"space":82,"id":84,"type":21,"createdAt":85,"updatedAt":86,"environment":87,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":89,"locale":34},{"sys":83},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"af0c20513d765e5133c17caa2701008e","2021-11-11T07:17:16.184Z","2026-01-22T09:12:02.421Z",{"sys":88},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":90},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":92,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":93},"11-a3","Around 61%",93,[96],{"metadata":97,"sys":100,"fields":113},{"tags":98,"concepts":99},[],[],{"space":101,"id":103,"type":21,"createdAt":104,"updatedAt":105,"environment":106,"publishedVersion":108,"revision":109,"contentType":110,"locale":34},{"sys":102},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"5oD2GcWuDmOUjo2lN1ICff","2020-06-15T15:59:05.131Z","2026-01-22T09:12:02.442Z",{"sys":107},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},135,133,{"sys":111},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":112},"ruleOfThumb",{"header":114,"body":115}," Divide","Amounts and rates can tell very different stories. Rates are more meaningful, especially when comparing between different-sized groups. In particular, look for rates per person when comparing between countries or regions.","In 1990, 58% of the world's population lived in lo","In 1990, 58% of the world's population lived in low-income countries. What is the share today?",[119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128,129,130,131,132,133,134,135,136,137,138,139,140,141,142,143,144,145,146,147,148,149,150,151,152],"uk 0.9512","nor 0.95958059745637","fin 0.984133284697456","dnk 0.950868237803684","are 0.839","arg 0.947","aus 0.953","bel 0.965","bra 0.939","can 0.955","chn 0.855","col 0.97","deu 0.969","egy 0.909","esp 0.903","fra 0.948","hun 0.972","idn 0.944","ita 0.897","jor 0.907","jpn 0.941","kor 0.919","mar 0.931","mex 0.966","mys 0.91","per 0.911","pol 0.947","rou 0.955","rus 0.967","sau 0.828","sgp 0.892","swe 0.929","tur 0.876","usa 0.956",[154,155,156,157,158,159,160,161,162,163,164,165,166,167,168,169,170,171,172,173,174,175,176,177,178,179,180,181,182,183,184,185,186,187,188,189,190,191,192],"uk 0.5567","usa 0.5692","arg 0.556","aus 0.5275","bel 0.6008","bra 0.5370","can 0.5934","chn 0.1258","fra 0.5112","deu 0.5877","hun 0.5920","idn 0.3253","ita 0.4055","jpn 0.4548","mex 0.5250","pol 0.3573","rus 0.5154","sau 0.2774","sgp 0.3022","kor 0.2735","esp 0.5003","swe 0.4256","tur 0.4562","mys 0.2975","egy 0.4371","are 0.3234","col 0.54","rou 0.4331","per 0.3770","jor 0.5071","mar 0.4382","dnk 0.5","fin 0.56","nor 0.47","zaf 0.48","ind 0.26","pak 0.48","nga 0.62","phl 0.39","Today, only 9% of people live in low-income countries.","Many think that low-income countries are still many. Most people don’t realize that AVERAGE incomes have increased a lot, even in countries where many still live in poverty.","Many think that low-income countries are still many. They don’t realize that AVERAGE incomes have increased a lot in countries where many still live in poverty.","Sources: World Bank & UN","This is based on the World Bank’s definition[1] of low-income countries based on their Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. Countries belong to the group if their income falls below a specific threshold, which increases slightly over the years, almost keeping pace with the inflation of the US dollar.\n\nIn 1990, there were 53 countries below the threshold which was then $610. The total population of those countries was 3.1 billion, which was 58% of the world population of 5.3 billion, based on the population estimates from the UN Population Division[2]. In 2022, the threshold for being labeled as a low-income country had risen to $1,135 or less [3] when only 26 countries had average incomes below that, and their combined population was 0.7 billion people, which is 9% of the world population of 8 billion. \n\nThere were 53 countries that were low-income in 1990. Today there are 26. Many countries have moved to a higher income but some dropped down to low-income from previously being middle-income countries (including Yemen and Syria).\n\nThe unit used for these GNI numbers is US Dollars converted from national currencies with the so-called Atlas method [4], which uses the average exchange rate of the three recent years. This method of converting currencies doesn’t account for price differences and purchasing power differences between countries. And national averages don’t express the income inequalities within countries which have been increasing in all these countries, as the income growth has been very unevenly distributed among the population. No matter what, a majority of people today have higher incomes than the majority in these countries had in 1990[5].\n\n[1]  [Classifying countries by income, the World Bank](https:\u002F\u002Fdatatopics.worldbank.org\u002Fworld-development-indicators\u002Fstories\u002Fthe-classification-of-countries-by-income.html)  \n[2]  [UN World Population Prospects](https:\u002F\u002Fpopulation.un.org\u002Fwpp\u002F)  \n[3]  [New country classifications by income level: 2019-2020, the World Bank](https:\u002F\u002Fblogs.worldbank.org\u002Fopendata\u002Fnew-world-bank-country-classifications-income-level-2021-2022)  \n[4]  [World Bank Atlas Method](https:\u002F\u002Fdatahelpdesk.worldbank.org\u002Fknowledgebase\u002Farticles\u002F378832-what-is-the-world-bank-atlas-method)  \n[5]  [Gapminder Income Mountains](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.gapminder.org\u002Ffw\u002Fincome-mountains\u002F)","For most companies in most industries, global competition intensified during the past 30 years because of something that most of them couldn’t anticipate, and still haven’t fully realized. \n\nThe majority of the world’s population moved from living in low-income countries to middle-income countries. Not by moving to a different country. They moved their country average by becoming richer.\n\nMany people in used-to-be-low-income countries started manufacturing products and made money by successfully competing on the global markets, instead of being small-scale farmers like their parents used to be. They increased their incomes and thereby pushed up the average income per person to the point where their countries were reclassified as middle-income countries. And it wasn’t just China, it happened in many big countries like India, Nigeria, Colombia, Indonesia, Brazil and Bangladesh. \n\nBut even if the majority in these countries got richer, not everyone living there did. Today these new middle-income countries are still home to roughly half of the world’s extremely poor, living on less than $2\u002Fday.\n\n### Why is it a problem that people are wrong about this?\nIf people have an outdated view that the world hasn’t improved at all and that it is still only divided by rich and poor, they miss so many opportunities to travel, study, move and do business.\n\n### Why are people wrong about this?\nSlow positive changes don’t show up in the media, so it is easy to lose track of how countries have progressed. We are left with what we learned in school or what is passed on to us by our parents, which is often out of date.\n\n### Can I trust this fact?\nYes. It is based on the World Bank’s definition of low-income countries based on their Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. Countries belong to the group if their income falls below a specific threshold, which increases slightly over the years, almost keeping pace with the inflation of the US dollar.\n\nIn 1990, there were 53 countries below the threshold which was then $610. The total population of those countries was 3.1 billion, which was 58% of the world population of 5.3 billion, based on the population estimates from the UN Population Division[2]. In 2022, the threshold for being labeled as a low-income country had risen to $1,135 [3] when only 26 countries had average incomes below that, and their combined population was 0.7 billion people, which is 9% of the world population of 8 billion. \n\nThe definition of extreme poverty does not vary between countries. It was increased in 2022 to $2.15 per person per day from $1.90 (we say \"around $2\" a day in our explanation to simplify), and is the same everywhere.\n\nThe unit used for these GNI numbers is US Dollars converted from national currencies with the so-called Atlas method, which uses the average exchange rate of the three recent years. This method of converting currencies doesn’t account for price differences and purchasing power differences, between countries. And national averages don’t express the income inequalities within countries which have been increasing in all these countries, as the income growth has been very unevenly distributed among the population. No matter what, a majority of people today have higher incomes than the majority in these countries had in 1990.\n\n### Discover more\nIn the [World Health Chart](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.gapminder.org\u002Fwhc) you can see the amazing improvements in health and incomes for all countries over the last 200 years, showing country averages. But average incomes hide inequalities. The income differences are still wide in most of these countries, which is visible when looking at the [income distributions over time](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.gapminder.org\u002Ffw\u002Fincome-mountains\u002F). \n\nWhile statistics can help us see the big patterns that most people are unaware of, they don’t let us see what the reality behind the data looks like. To fully understand how much better life is today for many people in middle-income countries, and to see what life looks like in extreme poverty there, visit [Dollar Street](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.gapminder.org\u002Fdollar-street) \n","More are richer now"]