The findings align with ongoing World Bank and other multilateral analyses.

The United Nations has issued a stark warning that the world is off track to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030, one of the core targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015.

According to the latest assessments from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and related reports, if current trajectories continue, approximately 8.9% of the world's population—hundreds of millions of people will still live in extreme poverty by the end of the decade.

CBI News reports that the figure, highlighted in updates to SDG Goal 1 ("End poverty in all its forms everywhere"), reflects a slowdown in global poverty reduction progress. Recent data revisions, including an updated international poverty line (now at $2.15 per day in 2017 purchasing power parity terms, with some sources noting shifts toward higher thresholds like $3 in recent World Bank adjustments), show that around 800-808 million people—or roughly 1 in 10 individuals worldwide—were living in extreme poverty as of 2025.

CBI News reports the UN's Sustainable Development Goals Report and related pages emphasize that while extreme poverty has declined significantly since 1990 (from around 36-43% to about 9-10% in recent years), the pace has stalled or reversed in parts due to factors including economic instability, conflicts, climate disasters, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and rising inequality.

Projections indicate that without accelerated interventions, the goal of bringing extreme poverty below 3% (often interpreted as "ending" it globally) will not be met. Instead, an estimated 590-622 million people could remain below the poverty threshold by 2030, with the majority concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa and fragile or conflict-affected states. In some scenarios, nearly 9 in 10 of the world's extreme poor are expected to reside in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The UN stresses that progress has been uneven: high-income countries are advancing toward better social protection coverage, but low-income nations lag significantly, with minimal gains in areas like universal social benefits. Working poverty also persists, affecting 244 million employed individuals in 2024 who live below the poverty line.

Officials and experts call for urgent, scaled-up actions—including stronger domestic resource mobilization, international support for tax systems, pro-poor policies, and investments in education, health, and resilience to shocks—to reverse the trend.

The report underscores that only one in five countries is on course to halve national poverty levels as targeted.

With just under five years remaining until the 2030 deadline, the UN urges renewed global commitment to accelerate efforts and prevent a legacy of persistent poverty for future generations.

The report similarly project hundreds of millions remaining in dire conditions absent major course corrections.