World Bank reports slower progress on extreme poverty theguardian.com

A population surge in sub-Saharan Africa and the war in Syria has undermined efforts to bring down the number of people living in extreme poverty across the world, according to a report by the World Bank.

In its annual report, the Washington-based development agency said the proportion of people living in extreme poverty had fallen to a new low of 10% in 2015 — the latest number available — down from 11% in 2013. It meant that the number of people living on less than $1.90 a day fell by 68 million to 736 million.