Coronavirus could push global poverty past one billion mark, new study suggests

The number of people in extreme poverty around the world could rise beyond 1 billion as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, new analysis has suggested.

Figures from the World Bank suggest that 736 million people currently live in destitution, surviving on less than $1.90 a day (£1.53).

But in a study published on Friday, researchers at King’s College London and Australian National University have warned that the pandemic could trigger “substantial” poverty increases and reverse decades’ worth of progress.

Different scenarios of consumption and income contraction during lockdown were modelled to establish the economic shock of Covid-19 at three poverty levels – $1.90, $3.20 (£2.58) and $5.50 (£4.43) per day.

The study found that an additional 395 million people across the world could be forced below the $1.90 line by the pandemic.