Overview of Global Poverty Reduction and Development

　　I. Introduction

　　Poverty eradication or reduction is the basic requirement of the development of human society. In traditional Chinese culture, development is to "guarantee a competent provision for the aged till their death, employment for the able-bodied and the means of growing up to the young,  show kindness and compassion to widows, orphans, childless men and those who are disabled by disease so that they are all sufficiently maintained (Book of Rites) ". According to the Western development theory, development is to seek ways benefiting all members of society and pay special attention to the poor (Kanbur R., and L. Squire, 1999, p.1). The development seeking process of mankind is anti-poverty history and people's understanding of poverty is an evolving process with the development of the human. From the economic perspective, poverty is a kind of deprival of well-being – Individuals or families do not have enough income to meet their basic needs. Thus, income support policy is the main means of poverty reduction. From the perspective of development, poverty is defined based on income. The instrumental role of income is emphasized while the real purpose of promoting human development is neglected. In fact, income is just a tool to achieve the well-being to some extent and the improvement of the quality of life is the real purpose. However, the deprival of basic feasible ability of an individual or family may lead to a decline in the quality of life and poverty. Sen points out that we have good reasons to believe that poverty is a kind of deprival of basic capabilities rather than low income. The basic capabilities include equitable access to employment, education, health, social security, safe drinking water, sanitation and other basic needs to promote the human dignity of life, even including subjective feelings. Specifically, the basic capability deprivation can be manifested by premature death, obvious malnutrition (especially for children), continuous incidence of diseases, widespread illiteracy and other deficiencies (Sen 1999, p.20). Therefore, the Human Development Index (HDI) released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1990 measured the human development from three perspectives – health, education and income for the first time rather than the single dimensionality of revenue. In order to promote the enhancement of the ability of people more comprehensively, in Human Development Report 2010, UNDP released the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) of various countries in the world and expanded the measurement of poverty to ten indexes. The measurement of poverty and human development from a multi-dimensional perspective has increasingly become the core content of anti-poverty policy.

　　Based on the evolution of the concept of poverty, this paper attempts to introduce the situation of global poverty reduction and development respectively from the perspective of income, human development index and multi-dimensional poverty. Part II of this paper mainly introduces the progress made in global poverty reduction from the perspective of income poverty; Party III talks about the HDI of the globe and various countries and regions as well as the progress in HDI; Party IV mainly describes the global multidimensional poverty and Part V presents the new challenges for global poverty reduction and development.

　　II. Latest progress in global poverty reduction

　　Since 1981, the World Bank has been monitoring the situation of global poverty based on the survey data of various countries. The latest monitoring result is the update of 2005 global poverty data. By 2008, the scope of monitoring had been expanded to cover six regions, namely East Asia and Pacific Region, South Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as sub-Saharan Africa. The poverty line used in this study is the 2005 purchasing power parity (PPP) of $ 1.25 per person per day.

　　Since the 1980s, great achievements have been made in the global poverty reduction. Relevant data show that in 2008, about 1.29 billion people in developing countries had a daily consumption of less than $ 1.25 (2005 PPP), accounting for 22% of the total population. In 1981, the number of poverty-stricken people was 1.99 billion and the poverty incidence was 52% (see Table 1). Seen from the situation of regional poverty reduction, the proportion and number of poverty-stricken people decreased in all the six regions for the first time, but the regional poverty reduction and development were uneven. The incidence of poverty in South Asia declined significantly, but the poverty situation was still serious and the number of poor residents was as high as 570 million. The incidence of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa dropped slightly and the number of poverty-stricken people reached 390 million (see Table 2). South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are still the key areas for global poverty reduction. As for the poverty reduction in various countries, China has made the most significant achievements in poverty reduction. Its poor population dropped from 840 million in 1981 to 173 million in 2008 and the incidence of poverty declined from 84% to 13.1% (Table 2). The latest progress in global poverty reduction shows the following main characteristics:

　　Table 1 Incidence of poverty in developing countries 1981-2008

	1981	1984	1987	1990	1993	1996	1999	2002	2005	2008
$1.00	41. 6	34. 7	30. 1	30. 8	28. 7	23. 5	23. 1	20. 6	16. 0	14. 0
$1.25	52. 2	46. 6	41. 8	43. 1	39. 1	34. 4	33. 7	30. 6	25. 1	22. 4
$2.00	69. 6	68. 0	64. 8	64. 6	63. 1	58. 6	57. 4	53. 5	46. 9	43. 0
Excluding China
$1.00	32	30. 1	28. 7	27. 1	24. 7	24. 6	23. 8	22. 6	21. 5	-
$1.25	40. 5	38. 3	37. 5	37. 2	34. 1	33. 8	33. 1	31. 3	27. 8	25. 2
$2.00	59. 3	59. 1	58. 2	57. 7	57. 8	56. 4	56. 1	54. 2	49. 9	47. 0

　　Source: World Bank data. Note: U.S. dollar prices have been adjusted based on 2005 PPP. Shaded table data come from Chen & Ravallion (2009a), slightly different from the WB's newly adjusted data

　　（I）Millennium Development Goals on achieving poverty reduction target ahead of schedule

　　Since 2008, with the impact of food, fuel and financial crisis, the pace of poverty reduction in some countries has been slowed down. On the whole, however, the number of poverty-stricken people in the world has maintained the downward trend. In fact, according to the preliminary estimate of the survey results on the situation in 2010 (the size of the sample is smaller than that of the update ones), based on the standard of $ 1.25 per person per day, by 2010, the poverty rate had dropped to below half of that in 1990, which means the first Millennium Development Goal has been achieved before 2015 (Figure 1).

　　（II）Progress has been made in reducing poverty despite the uneven progress in various areas

　　From 1981 to 2008, outstanding achievements were made in the poverty reduction in East Asia and the Pacific (Table 2), where the number of poverty-stricken people declined from nearly 1.1 billion in 1981 to 284 million in 2008 and poverty rate dropped from 77.2% to 14.3%. In South Asia, the incidence of poverty declined from 61% to 36% and incidence of extreme poverty was the lowest since 1981. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the poverty rate fell from 11.9% in 1981 to 6.5% in 2008, the lowest rate so far; the number of poverty-stricken people showed an uptrend before 2002 but dropped sharply after 2002. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the incidence of poverty and the number of poor people continued to rise before 2000, but the trend has been reversed since 2000 and the number of poverty-stricken people fell from 8.2 million in 1981 to 2.2 million in 2008. In the Middle East and North Africa, the number of poor people decreased from 16.5 million in 1981 to 8.6 million in 2008 and the poverty rate declined from 9.6% to 2.7%. In the Sub-Saharan Africa, since 1981, the incidence of poverty for the first time dropped to less than half (47.5%). Compared with 2005, there was a decrease of 8.9 million in the number of poor people living below the poverty line of $ 1.25 per person per day in 2008.

　　Table 2  Anti-poverty progress in various regions 1981-2008

Region	$1.25 per person per day
	Incidence of poverty %			Poor people (million)
	1981	2005	2008	1981	2005	2008
East Asia and Pacific region	77. 2	17. 1	14. 3	1096. 5	332. 1	284. 4
China	84. 0	16. 3	13. 1	835. 1	211. 9	173. 0
Eastern Europe and Central Asia	1. 9	1. 3	0. 5	8. 2	6. 3	2. 2
Latin America and the Caribbean	11. 9	8. 7	6. 5	43. 3	47. 6	36. 8
Middle East and North Africa	9. 6	3. 5	2. 7	16. 5	10. 5	8. 6
South Asia	61. 1	39. 4	36. 0	568. 4	598. 3	570. 9
Sub-Saharan Africa	51. 5	52. 3	47. 5	204. 9	394. 9	386. 0
Total	52. 2	25. 1	22. 4	1937. 8	1389. 6	1289. 0
Total (excluding China)	40. 5	27. 8	25. 2	1102. 8	1177. 7	1116. 0

　　Source: World Bank data. Note: U.S. dollar prices have been adjusted based on 2005 PPP.

　　（II）China has made enormous contributions to the cause of global poverty reduction

　　From 1981 to 2008, the number of poor Chinese people living below the poverty line of $ 1.25 per person per day dropped from 835 million to 173 million, with a decrease of 662 million; and the poverty rate fell from 874% to 13.1% (Table 2). From 1981 to 2008, the global poverty rate witnessed an annual decrease of 1.05%, and this figure was 0.54% if China was not covered. The World Bank has released recently that in 2005, 16.3% of the Chinese people lived below the poverty line of $ 1.25 per person per day, slightly different from the rate of 15.9% released by World Development Report 2010.

　　Figure 1 World Bank's latest estimates on global poverty

　　Source: Based on the World Bank data

　　图一：

　　不包括中国：not including China

　　贫困发生率：poverty rate

　　（IV）The world's poverty-stricken people are still relatively fragile

　　Remarkable achievements have been made in global poverty reduction, but there are still a large number of poverty-stricken people and an increasing number of vulnerable people in the world. First, in accordance with the current process of poverty reduction, by 2015, about one billion people will still live in extreme poverty with less than $ 1.25 a day. Second, most of the 649 million people who got rid of the situation of living below the poverty line of $ 1.25 per person per day from 1981 to 2008 are still poor according to the poverty standard of middle- and high-income countries. Thirdly, from 1981 to 2008, the number of the people living below the poverty line of $ 2 per person per day declined slightly from 2.59 billion to 2.47 billion, and the number of the poor living with daily consumption of $ 1.25-2 per person per day increased from 648 million to 1.18 billion. It shows that many poor people are in a vulnerable situation in the world.

　　Jaime Saavedra-Chanduvi, the Director of the World Bank's Poverty Reduction and Equity Department believes that we need to continue the fight against poverty on many fronts. In terms of policy and planning, we should create more and better jobs, better education and health services, carry out basic infrastructure construction and protect vulnerable groups. In terms of poverty measurement, the developing countries, especially low-income countries need to expand data collection and strengthen statistical capacity.

　　III. State of human development and the latest progress

　　In 1990, the "Human Development Report" began to study "development" from a completely new perspective. The basic objective of development is to create a favorable environment for human to enjoy a long, healthy and creative life. This is obvious today but it is not always the case. Over the past two decades, the core purpose of the Human Development Report has been stressing that the foundation of development is human development first. In 1990, the "Human Development Report" clearly defined human development as a process to "expand human right to choose": stressing the freedom for human to enjoy health, education and a decent life. In 2010, the "Human Development Report" reiterated the connotation of human development: Human development is a process of expanding human freedom: People enjoy the freedom of longevity, health and a decent life, the freedom of achieving the goals they value with their own reasons; and the freedom to actively get involved in the creation of a fair and sustainable development environment on the shared globe. Individuals and groups are both the beneficiaries and drivers of human development.

　　（I）Human Development Index（HDI）

　　The core theory the "Human Development Report" adheres to is that the anti-poverty purpose is to promote human development, i.e. to expand the true freedom that people value with their own reasons. Poverty reduction is a process of promoting human development. For this reason, the traditional measurement of a country's development based on GDP per capita and a person or a family’s poverty based on per capita consumption or income has significant flaws. It only stresses income is a means of poverty reduction but forgets that development is the real purpose. To this end, the UNDP designed Human Development Index (HDI).  

　　The Human Development Index (HDI) is an index for the overall measurement of human development, which measures a country’s average achievements from three basic dimensions of human development, namely health and longevity, knowledge acquisition, and the standard of living. Health and longevity is based on the life expectancy at birth; education is based on the average years of schooling and expected years of education; and income is based on per capita GNP (GNI).

　　The calculation of the Human Development Index can be briefly summarized as follows:

　　The first step: The dimension index is obtained based on the standardization of the absolute amount of data of each dimension

　　Dimensions Index = (actual figure – least figure) / (maximum figure – minimum figure)

　　Maximum figure is the highest index observed in various countries from 1980 to 2010. For example, the expected maximum lifetime is the observed figure in Japan in 2010, 83.2 years old.

　　The second step: Add all the dimension indexes, we get the Human Development Index.



　　（II）The overall trend of human development

　　In 2010, the UNDP analyzed the human development trends of 135 countries in the world using the dimensions of human development (health, education, income) included in the Human Development Index, and made judgment on the situation of human development and the latest progress.

　　Remarkable achievements have been made all over the world according to the HDI. The world's average human development index rose from 0.57 in 1990 to 0.68 in 2010, indicating the education and health indicators increased about a quarter and per capita income doubled. The HDI of almost all regions and all countries showed an upward trend, especially in East Asia and the Pacific (0.643), followed by South Asia (0.516) and the Arab countries (0.588). As for the growth rate of HDI, Oman ranked first, followed by China (0.663), Nepal (0.428) and Indonesia (0.600) (see Figure 2).

　　On the whole, the HDI gap between poor countries and rich countries is narrowing. The HDI difference between developing countries and developed countries from 1990 to 2010 was reduced by 1/5. For example, Mali's human development index rose from 0.17 to 0.37.

　　HDI development is unbalanced in various countries and regions. Not all countries have made rapid progress and the difference between countries is obvious. Over the past four decades, the HDI of 1/4 of the countries rose by less than 20%, but this index of another 1/4 countries increased by more than 65%. Since 1990, the HDI of ten countries have not increased comprehensively. The countries in sub-Saharan Africa have not been listed among the top ten in terms of HDI, but Ethiopia ranked 11th and several countries were among the top 25. It is worth noting that no Latin American country is among the top-ranking countries and only Guatemala ranked 22nd. Even so, the countries that made the fastest progress not only come from different regions, but adopted different measures to succeed.

　　Figure 2  The countries with the greatest progress in HDI

　　Source: UNDP, Human Development Report 2010 

　　图二：

　　进步体现于：Progress reflected by 排名：Ranking 非收入：non-income 收入：income

　　阿曼：Oman 中国：China 尼泊尔：Nepal 博茨瓦纳：Botswana 沙特阿拉伯：Saudi Arabia 韩国：South Korea 印度尼西亚：Indonesia 利比亚：Libya 中国香港：Hong Kong of China 阿尔及利亚：Algeria 马来西亚：Malaysia 老挝人民共和国：Lao People's Republic突尼斯：Tunisia 伊朗：Iran 马耳他：Malta 埃塞俄比亚：Ethiopia 越南：Vietnam 毛里求斯: Mauritius 摩洛哥：Morocco 印度：India 1970年HDI：HDI in 1970

　　HDI变化：HDI change

　　（III）Health

　　Many countries have made remarkable achievements in life expectancy. Arab countries' life expectancy has been extended to the largest degree, with an increase of 18 years. The life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa has been extended by 8 years compared with 1970 (see Figure 3). The main reason for the increase in life expectancy worldwide is the decline in infant mortality rate, and the decline rate is higher than that of adult mortality. Since the 1970s, deaths per thousand babies in developing countries fell by 59, which is significant progress although it is still four times that of developed countries (16 deaths per thousand babies in developed countries). 

　　Figure 3 World life expectancy trends

　　Source: UNDP, Human Development Report 2010

　　图三：预期寿命（年）：life expectancy(year) 发达国家：developed countries  前苏联：former Soviet Union  其余发展中国家：Other developing countries 高HIV感染国家 counties with high numbers of HIV-infected people

　　Progress remains slow and uneven in the field of health.  Advances in the field of health began to slow down in 1990. From the 1970s to 1990s, the average life span increased by six years. In the following two decades, however, the average life span only increased by four years. Since the 1990s, the female adult mortality has been reduced by 23% and the male adult mortality has been reduced by 6%, far lower than that of the previous 20 years, 27% ​​and 26% (see Figure 4). The decline of infant mortality rate also began to slow down.

　　The deceleration of the overall process is largely resulted from the substantial decrease in the life expectancy of 19 countries ((accounting for 6% of the world's population) over the past two decades. The life expectancy of nine countries is even below the level in 1970, including six African countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and three former Soviet republics (Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine). The reasons for decrease in life expectancy include the inundation of AIDS and the rise in mortality in transition economies. Since the 1980s, AIDS has led to a sudden drop in the life expectancy of southern African countries, where the AIDS infection rate of adults is still above 15%. The life expectancy of most affected countries is shorter than 51 years. In n Lesotho, the life expectancy is only 46 years old, equivalent to the level before the Industrial Revolution in England. 

　　Figure 4 Some health index in human development

　　Source: UNDP, Human Development Report 2010 

　　图四：发展中国家：developing countries 发达国家：developed countries 婴儿死亡率： infant mortality rate 男性成人死亡率：Male adult mortality 女性成人死亡率：Female adult mortality

　　The maternal mortality rate has been reduced but the Millennium Development Goal cannot be achieved. Since 1990, according to United Nations estimates, the maternal mortality rate has dropped from 430/100,000 to 400/100,000, with a decline of 5%. Another recent study also found that the maternal mortality rate is at a low level during this period with a decline of 22% (dropped from 320/100,000 to 251/100,000). In the last five countries in the ranking of HDI (including Mauritania, Eritrea, Angola, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau), the maternal mortality rate has also been reduced to some extent (dropped from 1,159 cases per 100,000 people to 711 cases per 100,000 people). Although the estimation methods and the results are different, they basically proved the indicator of maternal mortality and the Millennium Development Goal of reducing the maternal mortality by 3/4 by 2015 cannot be achieved on schedule.

　　The proportion of undernourished people due to hunger declined but the size is still large. The green revolution in the period from the 1960s to early 1980s brought about a substantial increase in food production. By 2000, the prices of most staple food fell and the proportion of undernourished people in developing countries dropped from 25% in 1980 to 16% in 2005. However, the absolute number of undernourished people based on minimum energy consumption has maintained 850 million or so since 1980, almost reaching one billion recently. 63% of these people live in the Asian-Pacific region, 26% in the sub-Saharan Africa and only 1% in developed countries.

　　（IV）Education

　　The level of education of different countries has been generally enhanced.  Since the first release of Human Development Report 1990, the average duration of school attainment has been extended by two years, the gross enrollment ratio rose by 12% and the literacy rate also increased from 73% to 84%. In 1960, the average duration of schooling of people above 15 was less than four years. In 2010, this figure doubled, and even tripled in developing countries (from 1.9 years to 6.4 years). Education has benefited more people. Since 1960, the schooling rate has increased from 57% to 85%.

　　Relevant data show that the literacy rate of young people in 63 of the 104 countries exceeds 95%, and this rate is even above 99% in 35 countries (including middle-ranking countries in HDI such as Moldova and Damoa). It indicates that the lack of basic literacy is no longer the main barrier for access to knowledge. No matter in developed countries or developing countries, the average primary school enrollment rate has reached 100%. Since 1991, the primary school graduation rate rose from 84% to 94%. The enhancement of the school enrollment was also reflected by the increase in expected schooling years, which has increased from nine years in 1980 to 11 years. In the countries with a lower HDI, this figure has also risen from 5 years to 8 years.

　　Gender difference in education has been reduced but still exists. Over the past few decades, the growth rate of the proportion of girls' enrollment was higher than that of boys' enrollment. From 1991 to 2007, moreover, the primary school enrollment ratio of girls to boys increased in all regions and the growth rate of the primary and secondary school graduation rate of girls was higher than that of boys. From 1991 to 2007, the graduation rate of girls increased by 29%, reaching 87%, and that of boys rose by 17%, reaching 90%. The rise of girls' graduation rate was also reflected by the middle school enrollment rate. In the 79 countries among the 134 countries with data available – including Bangladesh and Lesotho, the middle school enrollment rate of girls is 98% of that of boys. In other 17 countries, the school enrollment ratio of girls to boys and the gross school enrollment ratio of girls to boys at various educational stages was 95%. The gender difference in years of education in Arab countries and South Asia has been reduced by 33% -40% since 1970, and that in Sub-Saharan Africa has been reduced by 26% (see Figure 5).

　　Figure 5 Female - male ratio of average years of education in various regions

　　Source: UNDP, Human Development Report 2010 

　　图五：发达国家：developed countries女性与男性的比率 ratio of female to male 欧洲和中亚：Europe and Central Asia 拉丁美洲和加勒比地区：Latin America and the Caribbean region东亚和太平洋地区：East Asia and the Pacific region 阿拉伯国家：Arab countries撒哈拉以南非洲：Sub-Saharan Africa南亚：South Asia

　　Female enrollment rate in higher education is on the rise, higher than male enrollment rate in most countries. In the Arab countries, for example, the higher education enrollment rate increased by 45%. At present, the average enrollment ratio of female to male is 132:100. The situation is worse in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where the enrollment rate of girls and boys is respectively 75% and 51%. In Guinea and Niger, the situation is the worst and the ratio of boys to girls in school enrollment is 3:1.

　　In only 87 of the 156 countries with data available, however, the primary school enrollment rate of girls is nearly or higher than that of boys. On average, gender difference in the children in developing countries is not obvious, but the gender difference in the older children in rural areas is significant. In Bolivia, the enrollment rate of rural girls is 35% but that of urban boys is 71%. In Guinea, these two rates were respectively 37% and 84%. In the following eight countries - Afghanistan, Benin, Central African Republic, Haiti, Liberia, Mozambique, Niger and Togo, girls' school time is still less than half of boys' school time.

　　Figure 6 Gross school enrollment rates at various stages

　　Source: UNDP, Human Development Report 2010 

　　图六：  发达国家：developed countries 发展中国家：developing countries 高等教育：higher education 中等教育：secondary education 初等教育：primary education:

　　dPublic expenditure on education has generally increased, but the development is unbalanced in various regions. The proportion of public expenditure on education in GDP increased from 3.9% in 1970 to 5.1% in 2006. Educational resources per student have also increased by 43% since 1990. On average, annual cost on each student is nearly $ 4,611 in the world, but this figure is only $ 184 in Sub-Saharan Africa – despite an increase of 15% over 1990, equivalent to about 1/8 of that in Latin America and less than 1/40 of that in developed countries.

　　Education fees seriously affect children's access to education. Some studies have found that education fees have a serious negative impact. In a state in southern Nigeria, with the introduction of tuition fees in the 1980s, the primary school enrollment rate plummeted from 90% to 60% within 18 months. Subsequently, many countries abolished primary school tuition. Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda abolished primary school tuition in the 1990s, and Cambodia, Kenya and Tanzania abolished primary school tuition in early 2000s. Malawi canceled tuition fees as early as in 1994 and the primary school enrollment rate rose by 97% from 1990 to 1995. In Uganda, the primary school enrollment rate rose by 72% from 1995 to 2000. Latin America implemented a conditional cash transfer program to enhance the school enrollment rate. Brazil launched the Student Scholarship and Family Grant Scheme, Mexico implemented the program of  the Equalization of Opportunities and Chile launched the Chile Solidarity Program.

　　There are significant differences in the quality of education and we still a long way to go to achieve educational equity. The average score of the children in developing countries in the standardized tests is about 20% lower than that of children of the same grade in developed countries - about a difference of three grades. This difference sometimes reflects the inefficiency of education and has the same serious consequences The quality of education in poorer developing countries is worrying. In Ghana, for example, the average score of sixth-graders in a multiple-choice test with full score of 100 is only 25 – no difference with the results of random answer. Among the 11-year-old children in Bangladesh, more than half cannot write basic letters or numbers. In East Timor, when being presented a simple article, more than 70% of the students who are going to complete the first-grade primary school education could not even read one word.

　　（V）Income

　　Per capita income has significantly increased worldwide, but the income gap is still widening. Since 1970, the real per capita income of 155 countries has increased and their population accounts for 95% of the world's total. Today, the global per capita annual income reaches $ 10,760, almost 1.5 times that of 20 years ago and doubling the figure 40 years ago.

　　The income gap between developed and developing countries is significantly expanded. From 1970 to 2010, the average annual growth rate of per capita income in developed countries was 2.3%, but this rate was only 1.5% in developing countries. The average income of the countries with the highest income – 1/4 of the total countries in the world was 23 times that of the countries with the lowest income – 1/4 of the total in 1970 and 29 times in 2010. The wealth of today’s richest country (Liechtenstein) is twice that of the richest country in 1970, but the wealth of today’s poorest country (Zimbabwe) is 25% less than that of the poorest country (also Zimbabwe) in 1970. In fact, at present, the average income of the 13 poorest countries (1/4 of the total) in the world is actually less than that in 1970.

　　Developing countries have witnessed rapid economic growth, but the income gap has become more apparent. Since the 1970s, some developing countries, including Botswana, China, Malaysia and Thailand have witnessed a higher economic growth rate compared with developed countries. From 1970 to 2010, China's per capita income increased 21-fold, Botswana's per capita income rose 8-fold and Malaysia and Thailand's per capita income increased four-fold.

　　In order to bridge the gap with developed countries, however, these developing countries still have a long way to go: China's per capita income is only 1/5 of the average in developed countries. Botswana, Malaysia and Thailand are still far away from this level. At the same time, the income of some other countries (Comoros, Iran and Senegal) has stagnated, while other countries (such as Cote d'Ivoire, Madagascar and Zimbabwe) are facing economic collapse.

　　Developing countries face the difficulty in crossing the "middle-income trap". Before reaching the level of developed countries, many countries that have experienced long-term significant growth witnessed economic stagnation. From 1950 to 1980, for example, Brazil's per capita growth rate was nearly 5% per year. In the 1980s, however, the country witnessed economic collapse and has not recovered until recent years. Argentina's economic collapse is even more alarming. In 1913, its per capita GDP was above the European average. From 1981 to 2007, however, its per capita GDP was only equivalent to 1/5 of that in Western Europe.

　　Among the 108 countries with per capita income of less than $ 7000 in 1970, only four became high-income countries in 2010 according to the standards set by the World Bank, of which three countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Equatorial Guinea and Malta) are island economies and the other is South Korea.

　　IV. Multidimensional poverty and the latest progress in poverty reduction

　　After Amartya Sen's capability approach was put forward, many scholars criticized Sen's theory and said it is too abstract and cannot be applied in practice with the biggest challenge of how to measure multidimensional poverty. Thus, in May 2007, initiated by Sen, the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) was set up in the Department of International Development of Oxford University with the purpose to measure multidimensional poverty. At present, more and more family-based statistical data in various countries make the measurement of multidimensional poverty possible (Alkire, 2011).From 2007 to 2008, Alkire and Foster had the article "Counting and Multidimensional Poverty Measurement" published, which is the Alkire-Foster approach used by MPI of Human Development Report. From 2007 to 2010, Alkire team measured the multidimensional poverty of various countries in the world, including the measurement of multidimensional poverty in China conducted by Wang Xiaolin and Alkire in 2009. In 2010, the UNDP officially announced the multidimensional poverty index of 104 countries in the "Human Development Report 2010". The "Human Development Report 2010" points out that in order to get a panoramic view of the process of human development, we must go beyond the dimensions contained in the Human Development Index. Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is an important breakthrough in measurement method. Far beyond the scope of insufficient income, the dimensions for poverty measurement are used to identify the multidimensional deprivation suffered by families in health, education and living standards.

　　（I）Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

　　Based on Sen's poverty theory, the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) expands the dimensions of the human development index. The MPI is the index that reflects the number of people in multidimensional poverty (proportion of the people in multidimensional poverty) and the average multidimensional deprivation (poverty level) of each of the families in multidimensional poverty. Multidimensional Poverty Index has three dimensions - health, education and standard of living and 10 indicators to reflect the situation of multidimensional poverty (see Figure 7). The definition of these indicators is mostly related to the "Millennium Development Goals". Each indicator uses the same weight within its dimensions. If a family is deprived of 2-6 indicators, it has fallen into multidimensional poverty. Human Development Report 2010 used the MPI for the first time to assess the human development status of 104 economies in the world and made corresponding conclusions.

　　Figure 7 Multidimensional poverty index constituents

　　Source: UNDP， Human Development Report 2010

　　图七：10个指标：10 indicators财产：property 屋内地面：house ground 电：electricity 饮用水：drinking water 厕所：toilet 做饭用燃料：cooking fuel 儿童入学率：enrollment rate of children受教育年限：years of education 儿童死亡率：child mortality 营养：nutrition 三个维度：three dimensions 生活标准：standard of living 教育：education 健康：health 多维贫困指数：Multidimensional poverty Index

　　（II）Overview of the global multidimensional poverty

　　Based on the multidimensional poverty index, it is estimated that 1/3 of the population - about 1.75 billion people - in 104 economies around the world are experiencing multidimensional poverty. The poverty dimensions may include: malnutrition of family members, untimely death of child, no family member receiving education for five years, no access to school for school-age children, the use of fuel in cooking and the deprivation of sanitation, drinking water, electricity, household floor and properties.

　　In most countries, the number of multidimensional poverty-stricken people is larger than that of income poverty-stricken people. The lower the human development index, the higher the incidence of multidimensional poverty. The number of multidimensional poverty-stricken people in the world is larger than the number of people living below the poverty line of $ 1.25 per person per day, respectively reaching 1.75 billion and 1.44 billion. If the poverty line of $ 2 per person per day is used, however, there are a total of 2.6 billion poor people in the world, more than the multidimensional poverty-stricken people. Most countries - including Ethiopia, Guatemala and Morocco, have more multidimensional poverty-stricken people. In 19 of the 72 sample countries for income poverty measurement by MPI (including China, Tanzania and Uzbekistan), the incidence of income poverty is higher than the multidimensional poverty incidence. In general, the lower the human development index, the higher the incidence of multidimensional poverty.

　　The countries with more multidimensional poverty-stricken people usually suffer from more deprivation (Figure 8). At the same time, there have been some interesting exceptions – The countries with a smaller poverty-stricken population (such as Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam) have a higher level of poverty, while the countries with a larger poverty-stricken population (such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and the Democratic Republic of Congo) have a lower level of poverty. 

　　Figure 8 Comparison of multidimensional poverty and income poverty

　　Source: UNDP, Human Development Report 2010

　　图8：多维贫困发生率：Multidimensional poverty incidence 每天1.25美元贫困线以下的贫困人口比例：proportion of the poor living below the poverty line of $1.25 a day;

　　尼日尔：Niger 埃塞俄比亚：Ethiopia 卢旺达：Rwanda 坦桑尼亚：Tanzania毛里塔尼亚：Mauritania 印度：India 柬埔寨：Cambodia 摩洛哥：Morocco危地马拉：Guatemala 中国：China 斯里兰卡：Sri Lanka 乌兹别克斯坦 Uzbekistan

　　（III）Regional and national multidimensional poverty

　　Regional multidimensional poverty rates range from 3% in Europe and Central Asia to 65% in the Sub-Saharan Africa. South Asia ranks first in the incidence of multidimensional poverty, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (Figure 9).

　　Figure 9 Relationship between the average poverty deprivation and the proportion of poverty-stricken people

　　Source: UNDP, Human Development Report 2010

　　图9： 贫困的平均范围：average range of poverty 百分比：Percentage 极高HDI: very high HDI 高HDI：high HDI 中等HDI：Medium HDI  低HDI：low HDI

　　多维贫困人口所占百分比：percentage of the population in multidimensional poverty 缅甸：Myanmar 巴西：Brazil 菲律宾：Philippines 越南：Vietnam 老挝：Laos 巴基斯坦：Pakistan 印度：India 尼日利亚：Nigeria 尼日尔：Niger 埃塞俄比亚：Ethiopia 刚果民主共和国：Democratic Republic of Congo 孟加拉国：Bangladesh 中国：China 印度尼西亚：Indonesia

　　Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest incidence of multidimensional poverty, but there are significant differences between countries. The incidence of multidimensional poverty is as low as 3% in South Africa but as high as 93% in Niger, and average deprivations range from 45% (Gabon, Lesotho and Swaziland) to 69% (Niger). In Guinea, Mali and Niger, more than half of the people are poor and on average, each family had a death of a child. In the countries such as Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ethiopia and Mozambique, more than half of the people are poor and no members of their families have received a complete primary education.

　　The multidimensional poverty levels and incidences in South Asia are much higher than that of other regions. In India, for example, the level of poverty in eight states is as serious as that of the 26 poorest African countries and there are more than 421 million multidimensional poverty-stricken people in these eight states, of which more than 410 million live in the states neighboring Africa.

　　East Asia and Pacific countries - including China and Thailand have a relatively low incidence of multidimensional poverty. However, it is estimated that more than half of Cambodian people live in multidimensional poverty and most of them fell into multidimensional poverty due to the lack of electricity, sanitation and cooking fuel.

　　The multidimensional poverty situations in Latin America and the Caribbean are quite different. The incidences of multidimensional poverty here range from 2% (Uruguay) to 57% (Haiti, even before the earthquake in 2010).

　　With various groups living together, Arab countries face a more complex situation of poverty. Multidimensional poverty incidence is usually below 7%, but this incidence is above 14% in Iraq, 28% in Morocco, 29% in Djibouti and even as high as 52% in Yemen and 81% in Somalia.

　　The incidences of poverty in Europe and Central Asia are very low. The multidimensional poverty incidences in some countries are even close to zero. Azerbaijan, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey have relatively high incidences of multidimensional poverty ranging from 5%-7% and Tajikistan has the highest incidence of multidimensional poverty of 17%. These figures show that in the countries where basic services can be easily obtained, there are some limitations in the measurement of poverty strictly based on MPI, and it doesn't mean that multidimensional poverty does not exist in Europe and Central Asia.

　　Figure 10 Distribution of global multidimensional poverty

　　Source: UNDP，Human Development Report 2010 

　　图10：

　　欧洲和中亚：Europe and Central Asia 拉丁美洲和加勒比地区：Latin America and the Caribbean region东亚和太平洋地区：East Asia and the Pacific region 阿拉伯国家：Arab countries撒哈拉以南非洲：Sub-Saharan Africa南亚：South Asia

　　V. New challenges for human development

　　Human Development Report (2010) points out that more and more evidences have proved that the world's environmental degradation is widespread and likely to deteriorate further, which are a serious threat to every country and region in the world. According to the estimates of Human Development Report 2011, by 2050, due to the "environmental challenges" including the adverse impacts of global warming and pollution on agricultural production, access to clean water and the improvement of health conditions, the Human Development Index will be 8% lower than the reference value (12% in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa).

　　In recent years, along with climate change, many new types of disasters have appeared, the disaster losses are increasing and human society is facing increasing potential risks. In case of more serious situation of "environmental disaster" (such as a large area of ​​deforestation, land degradation, a sharp reduction in biodiversity and more frequent extreme weather disasters), the global human development index will be 15 percentage points lower than the predicted reference value.

　　With the narrowing of the gap in human development in terms of education and health, the income gap is widening, and the inequality between different groups is becoming another major challenge for human development. The inequality caused by structural reason will lead to inequality of opportunities.   

　　References:

　　UNDP, Human Development Report 2010

　　UNDP, Human Development Report 2011

　　Wang Xiaolin, The Evolution of the Concept of Poverty, research report of IPRCC, 2012.6

　　Kanbur R., and L., Squire，The Evolution of Thinking about Poverty: Exploring the Interactions, 1999.

　　Sen, A., “Poor, Relatively Speaking”, Oxford Economic Papers, New Series, 35(2), 1983, pp. 153-169

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