World Bank Group · Poverty Severity (Squared Poverty Gap) at $3.00 a Day
Poverty severity ($3.00 a day) by country
How deep does poverty run below $3.00 a day, counting the poorest most?
Of the 60 countries compared in 2023, 3 countries shared the lowest reading, 0.0000, and Uganda had the highest reading, 9.7400. In the middle country the figure was 0.1850. Among the 24 countries measured in every edition since 2002, the middle one moved from 0.5100 to 0.1400.
Poverty severity ($3.00 a day) · 2023
Context statistic
3 countries share the lowest value, 0.0000 — no single country is named first.
012023 · values only
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 60 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
Lowest in 2023 · shared
3 countries share the lowest reading, 0.0000
No single country is named first: picking one from a shared value would be a choice the data does not make.
02Every measured country
Poverty severity ($3.00 a day) on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 0.5700–9.7400
- 0.2600–0.5500
- 0.1100–0.2500
- 0.0300–0.1000
- 0.0000–0.0200
- No reading in 2023 (109 measured in an earlier edition)
- Asia
0.0800
the middle country, of 14 measured · 52 members
Thailand0.0001
Uzbekistan0.8400Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Europe
0.1100
the middle country, of 28 measured · 49 members
3 share 0.0000
Lithuania0.5700Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Americas
0.6100
the middle country, of 15 measured · 48 members
Uruguay0.0400
Honduras3.9200Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Africa
2 of 55 measured — too few for a middle: Rwanda, Uganda.
Rwanda3.8100
Uganda9.7400Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
1 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati.
Kiribati0.0200Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
14 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Western Europe
0.0200
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
3 share 0.0200
Austria0.3200Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Western Asia
0.0450
the middle country, of 6 measured · 19 members
Cyprus0.0100
Georgia0.4600Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Eastern Europe
0.0900
the middle country, of 7 measured · 10 members
2 share 0.0000
Bulgaria0.2400Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Southern Europe
0.1300
the middle country, of 8 measured · 17 members
Slovenia0.0000
Italy0.5500Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Northern Europe
0.1850
the middle country, of 8 measured · 13 members
Ireland0.0500Lithuania0.5700Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- South America
0.4500
the middle country, of 8 measured · 12 members
Uruguay0.0400
Colombia2.0400Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Central America
0.9500
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica0.2300Honduras3.9200Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Caribbean
1 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Dominican Republic.
Dominican Republic0.2000Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Central Asia
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
Kyrgyzstan0.0800Uzbekistan0.8400Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Africa
2 of 19 measured — too few for a middle: Rwanda, Uganda.
Rwanda3.8100Uganda9.7400Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Micronesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati.
Kiribati0.0200Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
1 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: United States.
United States0.7900Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- South-eastern Asia
3 of 11 measured — too few for a middle: Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand.
Thailand0.0001
Indonesia0.3000Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Southern Asia
2 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: India, Iran.
India0.0800
Iran0.1700Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
60 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 0.1850; a quarter are above 0.4700, and a quarter below 0.0650. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 169 ever measured
Every country
In order, lowest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. The values are small by construction — squaring a shortfall that is a fraction of the line makes it smaller still — so compare countries with each other, not with the headcount or the gap. Many countries read exactly zero and share that end, so no position is given.
Showing 25 of 169 countries
Values for 2023. The change column compares 2023 with 2022 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052002–2023 · 22 reference years
Over time
Each point is one reference year from 2002. It can move when the poorest get poorer or better off even while the number of poor people stays the same.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 24 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 60 | 0.1850 | 0.0650 – 0.4700 | 0.1400 |
| 2022 | 73 | 0.2100 | 0.0700 – 0.6300 | 0.1750 |
| 2021 | 82 | 0.2250 | 0.0400 – 0.7175 | 0.1650 |
| 2020 | 71 | 0.1900 | 0.0300 – 0.5000 | 0.1850 |
| 2019 | 79 | 0.2000 | 0.0350 – 0.4650 | 0.2000 |
| 2018 | 94 | 0.2150 | 0.0500 – 0.8250 | 0.1650 |
| 2017 | 79 | 0.1700 | 0.0650 – 0.7050 | 0.2050 |
| 2016 | 84 | 0.2200 | 0.0575 – 0.8450 | 0.3000 |
| 2015 | 87 | 0.2800 | 0.0600 – 1.1550 | 0.3450 |
| 2014 | 84 | 0.3300 | 0.0775 – 0.9525 | 0.3750 |
| 2013 | 78 | 0.2400 | 0.0425 – 0.7075 | 0.4250 |
| 2012 | 87 | 0.3000 | 0.0550 – 1.2500 | 0.4550 |
| 2011 | 82 | 0.2500 | 0.0450 – 1.3975 | 0.4000 |
| 2010 | 87 | 0.3000 | 0.0400 – 1.3400 | 0.5300 |
| 2009 | 83 | 0.4400 | 0.0550 – 1.5150 | 0.4650 |
| 2008 | 79 | 0.1600 | 0.0400 – 1.0900 | 0.3950 |
| 2007 | 73 | 0.2200 | 0.0500 – 2.1200 | 0.3150 |
| 2006 | 82 | 0.2650 | 0.0600 – 1.7825 | 0.3900 |
| 2005 | 81 | 0.6600 | 0.1200 – 3.2400 | 0.6150 |
| 2004 | 75 | 0.4100 | 0.1250 – 3.2400 | 0.7550 |
| 2003 | 69 | 0.6300 | 0.1400 – 4.0500 | 0.5450 |
| 2002 | 68 | 1.4050 | 0.1500 – 4.7775 | 0.5100 |
062022 → 2023
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after- Georgia0.9800 → 0.4600−0.5200
Serbia0.6600 → 0.3100−0.3500
Bolivia0.6200 → 0.2900−0.3300
Tajikistan0.8600 → 0.5500−0.3100
Sweden0.7300 → 0.4500−0.2800
Worsened most
before → after- Lithuania0.2700 → 0.5700+0.3000
Peru0.6300 → 0.8100+0.1800- Austria0.1700 → 0.3200+0.1500
- Dominican Republic0.0800 → 0.2000+0.1200
Latvia0.1300 → 0.2500+0.1200
51 countries were measured in both 2022 and 2023. The field changed from 73 to 60 countries, so a place can move for reasons that have nothing to do with the country itself.
07Across every edition
Poverty severity ($3.00 a day) in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
48.7200
Squared poverty gap at $3.00 a day, 2021 PPP (0–100)
Lowest reading on record
Reached 104 times by 31 countries — shared, so no holder is named
0.0000
Squared poverty gap at $3.00 a day, 2021 PPP (0–100)
Biggest improvement between editions
−4.9100
9.1300 → 4.2200
Biggest decline between editions
+5.4100
0.1900 → 5.6000
Most improved since first measured
−34.0600
34.9000 → 0.8400
08The measure
About poverty severity ($3.00 a day)
Poverty severity — the squared poverty gap — measures how deep poverty runs below $3.00 a day while giving the most weight to the very poorest. Each poor person’s shortfall is squared before it is averaged, so a country where a few people are extremely poor reads worse than one where many sit just below the line.
What the number is: Squared poverty gap at $3.00 a day, 2021 PPP (0–100).
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Development & Human Capital and Poverty & Inequality, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Development & Human CapitalPoverty & InequalityWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where poverty severity ($3.00 a day) is higher, these tend to be higher too.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Moves against
Where poverty severity ($3.00 a day) is higher, these tend to be lower.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 0 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
More from World Bank Group
11Questions
Poverty severity ($3.00 a day): questions and answers
Which country has the lowest poverty severity ($3.00 a day)?
3 countries share the lowest reading, 0.0000, among the 60 compared in 2023, so no single country is named.
Which country has the highest poverty severity ($3.00 a day)?
Uganda, at 9.7400, among the 60 countries compared in 2023.
How many countries does the Poverty Severity (Squared Poverty Gap) at $3.00 a Day cover?
60 in 2023, and 169 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 60 to 94 between editions.
What is the world average poverty severity ($3.00 a day)?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 60 compared in 2023, the figure was 0.1850.
Is this World Bank Group’s own ranking?
No ranking is shown. World Bank Group publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.
How often is the Poverty Severity (Squared Poverty Gap) at $3.00 a Day published?
This site holds 22 reference years, 2002–2023, all recalculated in World Bank Group’s 2026 report on one method — not 22 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Bank Group, under CC BY 4.0. Read from the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform, which publishes it beside the headcount and the gap; the Bank’s indicator API carries no copy. The smallest values are stored with every digit the platform serves. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Poverty Severity (Squared Poverty Gap) at $3.00 a Day — World Bank Group
Read from the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform, which publishes it beside the headcount and the gap; the Bank’s indicator API carries no copy. The smallest values are stored with every digit the platform serves.
Newest edition
Report year 2023Data year 2023
Cite the source as: World Bank. Poverty and Inequality Platform. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- No rank or position is shown: World Bank Group publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Poverty severity ($3.00 a day) by country: Poverty Severity (Squared Poverty Gap) at $3.00 a Day, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/poverty-severity