Global Poverty & Homelessness Statistics 2021

To help people better understand this global problem, we have sought to compile the latest available statistics on the challenges faced by people around the globe. The last time a global survey was attempted was by the United Nations. This was in 2005. An estimated 100 million people were homeless worldwide. As many as 1.6 billion people lacked adequate housing (Habitat, 2015). Getting an accurate picture of global homelessness is extremely challenging. Definitions of homelessness vary from country to country. Census data is typically collected based on household and, while most census data takes into account those living in shelters and receiving government aid, census takers struggle to count the “hidden homeless”. Those who may be residing in inadequate settlements such as slums, squatting in structures not intended for housing, couch surfing with friends and family, and those who relocate frequently. This means that very likely, the available data on homelessness is severely underreported, and there are many more homeless people that countries report. We’ve compiled data from the top countries on each continent with the highest and rising numbers on poverty and homelessness. The data is based on sources from the World Bank, World Food Programme, Habitat, Open DRI, Relief Web, CIA World Factbook, UNDP, Habitat for Humanity, UN, and more. Full credits in the YouTube video description. Africa Zimbabwe More than 72% of Zimbabweans live below the poverty line and 62% of the households have also been deemed poor. The country’s unemployment rate was estimated a 11.3% in 2014, this however, is believed to be a huge underestimation, since the country’s conditions prevent from accurate data gathering. Zambia More than 60% of the Zambian population is under the poverty line, living on $2 a day Liberia In 2016, 50.9% of the population lived below the national poverty line. People living in rural areas make up 75% of the poor population. Ivory Coast 56% of the population were reported to be living in slums in 2015. The housing deficit is estimated at 40,000 units per year, and urbanisation keeps worsening the problem. Malawi Malawi’s national poverty rate has risen from 50.7% in 2010 to 51.5% in 2016. In a country of 18.6 million people, there are around 1.5 million orphans and vulnerable children. Asia & Oceania Pakistan More than 200 million people live in Pakistan. 35% of the population live under the poverty line. It is estimated that there are roughly 20 million people lacking adequate housing, with the majority living in slums and other forms of temporary housing. India There are an estimated 1.8 million homeless people in India, with 52% based in urban areas. A further 73 million families lack access to decent housing. Nearly 2.9 million people were displaced through natural disasters and violence in 2018. Philippines A fifth of the population lives below the national poverty line. There are around 4.5 million homeless Filipinos with 3 million in Manila, possibly the most in any city in the world. Europe Bulgaria More than 40 per cent of Bulgarians are at risk of poverty and social exclusion. The population living below the poverty line is currently 23.4%. Bosnia and Herzegovina 16.9% of the population live on or below the poverty line. Greece Currently 34.8% of the population, 3.7 million people, are considered to be living below the poverty line. Northern & Central America Guatemala In 2014 it was estimated that 59.3% of the population were living under the poverty line. Honduras More than 60% of Honduras’ population live in poverty, and in rural areas 20% of people live in ‘extreme poverty’. In 2016, the housing deficit was over 1 million units. In 2015, 27.5% of the urban population lived in slums Haiti 58.5% of the population, 6 million people, live with less than US$ per day Jalousie, one of Haiti’s biggest slums, has a conservative estimate of 80,000 residents, many of whom lost their houses after the 2010 earthquake. South America Venezuela In Venezuela 90% of the population live in poverty. A rate exacerbated by failed economic policies and a plunge in global oil prices. Since 2014 more than 3.4 million Venezuelans have left the country – one of the largest cases of forced displacement in the western hemisphere. On average, in 2018, 5,000 people left Venezuela every day. An estimated 2.7 million Venezuelans are hosted in Latin America and Caribbean countries Colombia Colombia has been experiencing violent internal conflicts for more than 50 years. According to the World Food Programme, 7.5 million people have been displaced as a result. Extreme poverty is still present, disproportionately affecting certain regions and types of population. Peru Peru’s poverty rate is at 21.7%. An estimated 6.9 million Peruvians now live in poverty, 44% of whom are in rural Peru. Source: