The World Bank has warned that global efforts to reduce extreme poverty have stalled, with 811 million people, equivalent to one in 10 people worldwide, living on less than $3 (about Ksh389) a day in 2026.

In its Poverty, Prosperity, and Planet Report 2026: Jobs at the Center of Poverty Eradication, the institution says the number of people living in extreme poverty has remained unchanged since 2019, raising concerns about the world’s ability to meet its poverty reduction targets.

The report warns that without stronger economic growth per person, the number of people living in extreme poverty could be higher in 2030 than it is today.

It identifies employment, higher earnings and improved economic opportunities as essential to reversing the slowdown, particularly in countries where poverty remains widespread and economic growth has failed to create enough productive jobs.

The findings highlight a growing challenge for governments as millions of households continue to struggle with low incomes, limited access to essential services and exposure to economic and environmental shocks.

Poverty increasingly concentrated in Africa

The World Bank report shows that extreme poverty is becoming increasingly concentrated in a small number of economies. More than half of the world’s poorest people live in just nine economies.

By 2030, an estimated 87 per cent of people living in extreme poverty will be in Sub-Saharan Africa, in fragile and conflict-affected situations, or both.

This concentration presents a major challenge for countries seeking to improve living standards while dealing with insecurity, limited economic opportunities and the pressure of growing populations.

The report also highlights the number of people living close to poverty, whose incomes remain insufficient to guarantee financial security.

Nearly half of the world’s population, approximately 3.7 billion people, live on less than $8.30 (about Ksh1,078) a day. Although this threshold is higher than the extreme poverty line, it demonstrates the scale of financial vulnerability facing households across the world.

People who move above the extreme poverty threshold may still struggle to afford food, housing, healthcare and education. A sudden loss of income, illness or climate-related disaster can quickly push vulnerable families back into deprivation.

Progress in reducing inequality has also slowed. The global prosperity gap, which measures how far living standards remain from a dignified level of prosperity, halved between 1990 and 2013. Since then, it has narrowed by barely one per cent annually.

Climate change is worsening the situation for vulnerable communities. Of the 4.5 billion people living in areas exposed to major climate hazards, 1.5 billion face high vulnerability because they lack social protection or access to basic infrastructure.

Although the proportion of people facing high vulnerability declined between 2010 and 2021, their total number increased by 461 million.

The report notes that people living in extreme poverty contribute the least to global greenhouse gas emissions but remain among those most exposed to climate-related shocks. Eradicating extreme poverty would increase global emissions by less than five per cent, according to its estimates.

World Bank identifies jobs as a solution

The World Bank identifies employment as a central tool for reducing poverty, noting that labour is often the main productive asset available to poor households.

However, employment alone may not be sufficient when workers earn low wages or depend on activities that generate little income. The quality of available jobs and the earnings they provide are therefore important to poverty reduction.

According to the report, increasing employment among working-age adults in poor households to 75 per cent could reduce extreme poverty by approximately one-fifth.

The gains would partly come from improving women’s access to employment, as women account for a substantial share of working-age adults in poor households who are not employed.

Higher earnings could produce an even greater impact. The report estimates that raising the education levels of poor workers to the average attained by people above the extreme poverty line could increase their predicted earnings by about 40 per cent and reduce extreme poverty by nearly half.

Helping workers move into wage employment or transition out of agriculture could also reduce extreme poverty by approximately one-fifth.

The findings point to the need for policies that expand access to productive employment, improve workers’ skills and raise incomes, particularly among households at the bottom of the income distribution.

The World Bank has made job creation a priority, emphasising the importance of generating more employment opportunities while improving pay and working conditions.

Without stronger economic growth, better-paying jobs and measures to protect vulnerable communities from economic and climate-related shocks, the report warns, the world risks losing further ground in the fight against extreme poverty by 2030.