Countries by extreme poverty rate ($3.00 a day, 2021 PPP)
Democratic Republic of the Congo had the highest extreme poverty rate ($3.00 a day, 2021 PPP) of 86 countries in 2012, at 78.9%. Switzerland had the lowest, at 0%. The median was 1.4% and the figure for the World was 17.8%. Source: the World Bank.
Top 40 countries, 2012
Full ranking
| Rank | Countries | 2012 (%) | Change on 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 78.9 | |
| 2 | Madagascar | 67.3 | |
| 3 | Uganda | 56.2 | |
| 4 | Ghana | 41.8 | |
| 5 | Haiti | 40.4 | |
| 6 | Solomon Islands | 40.3 | |
| 7 | Nigeria | 37.4 | |
| 8 | Indonesia | 26.6 | -4.6 pts |
| 9 | Djibouti | 26.4 | |
| 10 | Honduras | 24 | +3.9 pts |
| 11 | Laos | 21.7 | |
| 12 | Guinea | 21.3 | |
| 12 | Philippines | 21.3 | |
| 14 | Georgia | 18.8 | -2.8 pts |
| 15 | China | 12.9 | -2.4 pts |
| 16 | Colombia | 12.7 | +1.4 pts |
| 17 | Kyrgyzstan | 10.5 | +1.2 pts |
| 18 | Nauru | 9.7 | |
| 19 | Peru | 9.5 | -0.8 pts |
| 20 | North Macedonia | 9.1 | -1.8 pts |
| 21 | El Salvador | 8.5 | -1.6 pts |
| 22 | Romania | 8.4 | +1.3 pts |
| 23 | Bolivia | 7.9 | +1 pts |
| 24 | Panama | 7.4 | +1.3 pts |
| 25 | Mexico | 7.3 | |
| 26 | Serbia | 7.1 | |
| 27 | Brazil | 6.4 | -0.7 pts |
| 27 | Paraguay | 6.4 | -2.5 pts |
| 27 | Sri Lanka | 6.4 | |
| 30 | Ecuador | 6 | -0.4 pts |
| 31 | Montenegro | 5.6 | +5.2 pts |
| 32 | Dominican Republic | 5.4 | +0.1 pts |
| 33 | Vietnam | 3.7 | |
| 34 | Bhutan | 3.6 | |
| 35 | Bulgaria | 3 | -0.4 pts |
| 36 | Costa Rica | 2.6 | -0.1 pts |
| 37 | Armenia | 2.5 | -0.6 pts |
| 38 | Greece | 2.1 | +0.6 pts |
| 39 | Albania | 1.8 | |
| 39 | Iran | 1.8 | -0.5 pts |
| 41 | Türkiye | 1.7 | -0.3 pts |
| 42 | Italy | 1.4 | +0.1 pts |
| 42 | Japan | 1.4 | +0.9 pts |
| 42 | Latvia | 1.4 | -0.3 pts |
| 45 | Argentina | 1.3 | +0.1 pts |
| 46 | Egypt | 1.2 | |
| 47 | Croatia | 1.1 | +0.1 pts |
| 47 | Lithuania | 1.1 | +0.2 pts |
| 47 | Mauritius | 1.1 | |
| 47 | Mongolia | 1.1 | -1.1 pts |
| 47 | United States | 1.1 | 0 pts |
| 52 | Estonia | 1 | -0.2 pts |
| 52 | Spain | 1 | -0.3 pts |
| 54 | Portugal | 0.9 | +0.3 pts |
| 55 | Israel | 0.8 | +0.5 pts |
| 56 | Austria | 0.7 | +0.2 pts |
| 57 | Iraq | 0.6 | |
| 58 | Hungary | 0.5 | +0.3 pts |
| 58 | Ireland | 0.5 | -0.2 pts |
| 58 | Moldova | 0.5 | 0 pts |
| 58 | Slovakia | 0.5 | -0.1 pts |
| 58 | South Korea | 0.5 | |
| 58 | Sweden | 0.5 | -0.2 pts |
| 64 | Poland | 0.4 | -0.2 pts |
| 64 | Thailand | 0.4 | +0.1 pts |
| 64 | United Kingdom | 0.4 | +0.1 pts |
| 67 | Canada | 0.3 | 0 pts |
| 67 | Uruguay | 0.3 | +0.1 pts |
| 69 | Belgium | 0.2 | 0 pts |
| 69 | Malta | 0.2 | 0 pts |
| 71 | Belarus | 0.1 | 0 pts |
| 71 | Czechia | 0.1 | 0 pts |
| 71 | Finland | 0.1 | 0 pts |
| 71 | France | 0.1 | +0.1 pts |
| 71 | Germany | 0.1 | 0 pts |
| 71 | Kazakhstan | 0.1 | -0.1 pts |
| 71 | Netherlands | 0.1 | 0 pts |
| 71 | Norway | 0.1 | 0 pts |
| 71 | Russia | 0.1 | 0 pts |
| 71 | Ukraine | 0.1 | 0 pts |
| 81 | Cyprus | 0 | 0 pts |
| 81 | Denmark | 0 | 0 pts |
| 81 | Iceland | 0 | -0.2 pts |
| 81 | Luxembourg | 0 | -0.1 pts |
| 81 | Slovenia | 0 | 0 pts |
| 81 | Switzerland | 0 | 0 pts |
Other periods
About this ranking
Share of the population living on less than $3.00 a day at 2021 purchasing power parity (PPP) prices, the World Bank international poverty line since June 2025. Measured from household surveys of income or consumption per person. World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform.
Country values exist only for survey years, and most countries measure consumption while others measure income, so rates are only roughly comparable. When the World Bank moves the line or the PPP base, the whole history is recalculated; earlier editions used $2.15 a day at 2017 PPP. Not the US official poverty rate (poverty_rate) or the EU at-risk-of-poverty rate (at_risk_of_poverty_rate).
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. 84 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2012 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
World Bank, World Development Indicators. Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), % of population (SI.POV.DDAY). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.Citation styles
APA 7
World Bank. (2026). Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), % of population (SI.POV.DDAY) (Countries by extreme poverty rate ($3.00 a day, 2021 PPP), 2012) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY
MLA 9
Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), % of population (SI.POV.DDAY), Countries by extreme poverty rate ($3.00 a day, 2021 PPP), 2012. World Bank, 8 Oct. 2026, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/extreme-poverty-rate/countries?period=2012. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
World Bank. 2026. Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), % of population (SI.POV.DDAY). Countries by extreme poverty rate ($3.00 a day, 2021 PPP), 2012. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/extreme-poverty-rate/countries?period=2012.
Harvard
World Bank (2026) Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), % of population (SI.POV.DDAY), Countries by extreme poverty rate ($3.00 a day, 2021 PPP), 2012 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/extreme-poverty-rate/countries?period=2012 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{world_countries_by_extreme_poverty_2012,
author = {{World Bank}},
title = {{Poverty headcount ratio at \$3.00 a day (2021 PPP), \% of population (SI.POV.DDAY): Countries by extreme poverty rate (\$3.00 a day, 2021 PPP), 2012}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/extreme-poverty-rate/countries?period=2012. Publisher attribution: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Poverty headcount ratio at \$3.00 a day (2021 PPP), \% of population (SI.POV.DDAY). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - World Bank
TI - Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), % of population (SI.POV.DDAY): Countries by extreme poverty rate ($3.00 a day, 2021 PPP), 2012
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
PB - World Bank
DB - Invokely
UR - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/extreme-poverty-rate/countries?period=2012
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/extreme-poverty-rate/countries?period=2012.
N1 - Publisher attribution: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), % of population (SI.POV.DDAY). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Countries by extreme poverty rate ($3.00 a day, 2021 PPP) using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"extreme_poverty_rate_3usd","level":"country","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=extreme_poverty_rate_3usd&level=country&limit=10Questions
Which country has the highest extreme poverty rate ($3.00 a day, 2021 PPP)?
Democratic Republic of the Congo, with 78.9% in 2012, according to the World Bank.
Which country has the lowest extreme poverty rate ($3.00 a day, 2021 PPP)?
Switzerland, with 0% in 2012.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: World Bank, Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), % of population (SI.POV.DDAY). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 84 countries have no value for 2012 and are not ranked.