India overtakes Nigeria as the new poverty capital of the world according to latest statistics

NIGERIA is no longer poverty capital of the world as the latest statistics from the World Poverty Clock (WPC) show that India has overtaken the country as the nation with the highest number of people living in penury.

Up until now, Nigeria has the highest number of people on earth living in absolute poverty but India has now overtaken the country as according to WPC data, 83m Indians now live below the United Nations (UN) estimated poverty line of $2 a day in 2022. In 2018, Nigeria surpassed India as the world's poverty capital, with around 87m people living in extreme poverty, compared with India’s 73m.

However, according to the WPC, the latest statistics of Nigerians living in extreme poverty now stands at 70.67m representing 33% of the population. Real time poverty data tool showed that 53% of the Nigerians currently living below the UN estimated poverty line are residents of rural areas.

Furthermore, the statistics also showed that Nigerian males were slightly more affected by extreme poverty than their female counterparts. WPC data shows that around 35m Nigerian males were living in poverty compared with 34m females.

In Africa, Nigeria leads the pack as the country with the highest people living below the poverty line followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo which has an estimated 67m poor citizens. In third place is Madagascar with over 21m poor citizens, followed by Angola with around 18m poor citizens.