Data / Rankings / Poverty rate at the national poverty line / Countries

Countries by poverty rate at the national poverty line

Sierra Leone had the highest poverty rate at the national poverty line of 67 countries in 2018, at 56.8%. China had the lowest, at 1.7%. The median was 21.9%. Source: the World Bank.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest56.8Sierra Leone
Lowest1.7China
Median21.967 countries

Map of countries, 2018

Albania: 23 %Armenia: 23.5 %Angola: 32.3 %Argentina: 32 %Austria: 13.3 %Belgium: 14.8 %Burkina Faso: 41.4 %Bulgaria: 22.6 %Benin: 38.5 %Bolivia: 40.5 %Belarus: 5.6 %Belize: 52 %Switzerland: 16 %Côte d’Ivoire: 39.5 %China: 1.7 %Colombia: 35.5 %Costa Rica: 22.9 %Cyprus: 14.7 %Czechia: 10.1 %Dominican Republic: 28.3 %Ecuador: 23.2 %Estonia: 21.7 %Spain: 20.7 %Finland: 11.6 %Georgia: 20.1 %Guinea: 43.7 %Greece: 17.9 %Guinea-Bissau: 47.7 %Hungary: 12.3 %Indonesia: 9.8 %Italy: 20.1 %Jamaica: 12.7 %Jordan: 15.7 %Kazakhstan: 4.3 %Laos: 18.3 %Lithuania: 20.6 %Latvia: 22.9 %Montenegro: 24.5 %North Macedonia: 21.6 %Mali: 42.1 %Mexico: 41.9 %Niger: 40.8 %Nigeria: 40.1 %Netherlands: 13.2 %Panama: 21.4 %Peru: 20.5 %Pakistan: 22.2 %Portugal: 17.2 %Romania: 23.8 %Serbia: 23 %Russia: 12.7 %Sweden: 17.1 %Slovenia: 12 %Slovakia: 11.9 %Sierra Leone: 56.8 %Senegal: 37.8 %Chad: 42.3 %Togo: 45.5 %Thailand: 9.8 %Türkiye: 14.4 %Tanzania: 26.4 %Ukraine: 27.6 %Vietnam: 6.8 %Samoa: 21.9 %
  • Under 13
  • 13 to 17
  • 17 to 22
  • 22 to 25
  • 25 to 40
  • 40 and over
  • No data
%, 2018. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: World Bank, Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines, % of population (SI.POV.NAHC). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

Top 40 countries, 2018

Sierra Leone: 56.8 %Sierra Leone56.8Belize: 52 %Belize52Guinea-Bissau: 47.7 %Guinea-Bissau47.7Togo: 45.5 %Togo45.5Guinea: 43.7 %Guinea43.7Chad: 42.3 %Chad42.3Mali: 42.1 %Mali42.1Mexico: 41.9 %Mexico41.9Burkina Faso: 41.4 %Burkina Faso41.4Niger: 40.8 %Niger40.8Bolivia: 40.5 %Bolivia40.5Nigeria: 40.1 %Nigeria40.1Côte d’Ivoire: 39.5 %Côte d’Ivoire39.5Benin: 38.5 %Benin38.5Senegal: 37.8 %Senegal37.8Colombia: 35.5 %Colombia35.5Angola: 32.3 %Angola32.3Argentina: 32 %Argentina32Dominican Republic: 28.3 %Dominican Republic28.3Ukraine: 27.6 %Ukraine27.6Tanzania: 26.4 %Tanzania26.4Seychelles: 25.3 %Seychelles25.3Grenada: 25 %Grenada25Montenegro: 24.5 %Montenegro24.5Romania: 23.8 %Romania23.8Armenia: 23.5 %Armenia23.5Ecuador: 23.2 %Ecuador23.2Albania: 23 %Albania23Serbia: 23 %Serbia23Costa Rica: 22.9 %Costa Rica22.9Latvia: 22.9 %Latvia22.9Bulgaria: 22.6 %Bulgaria22.6Pakistan: 22.2 %Pakistan22.2Samoa: 21.9 %Samoa21.9Estonia: 21.7 %Estonia21.7North Macedonia: 21.6 %North Macedonia21.6Panama: 21.4 %Panama21.4Spain: 20.7 %Spain20.7Lithuania: 20.6 %Lithuania20.6Peru: 20.5 %Peru20.5Sierra Leone: 56.8 %Sierra Leone56.8Belize: 52 %Belize52Guinea-Bissau: 47.7 %Guinea-Bissau47.7Togo: 45.5 %Togo45.5Guinea: 43.7 %Guinea43.7Chad: 42.3 %Chad42.3Mali: 42.1 %Mali42.1Mexico: 41.9 %Mexico41.9Burkina Faso: 41.4 %Burkina Faso41.4Niger: 40.8 %Niger40.8Bolivia: 40.5 %Bolivia40.5Nigeria: 40.1 %Nigeria40.1Côte d’Ivoire: 39.5 %Côte d’Ivoire39.5Benin: 38.5 %Benin38.5Senegal: 37.8 %Senegal37.8Colombia: 35.5 %Colombia35.5Angola: 32.3 %Angola32.3Argentina: 32 %Argentina32Dominican Republic: 28.3 %Dominican Republic28.3Ukraine: 27.6 %Ukraine27.6Tanzania: 26.4 %Tanzania26.4Seychelles: 25.3 %Seychelles25.3Grenada: 25 %Grenada25Montenegro: 24.5 %Montenegro24.5Romania: 23.8 %Romania23.8Armenia: 23.5 %Armenia23.5Ecuador: 23.2 %Ecuador23.2Albania: 23 %Albania23Serbia: 23 %Serbia23Costa Rica: 22.9 %Costa Rica22.9Latvia: 22.9 %Latvia22.9Bulgaria: 22.6 %Bulgaria22.6Pakistan: 22.2 %Pakistan22.2Samoa: 21.9 %Samoa21.9Estonia: 21.7 %Estonia21.7North Macedonia: 21.6 %North Macedonia21.6Panama: 21.4 %Panama21.4Spain: 20.7 %Spain20.7Lithuania: 20.6 %Lithuania20.6Peru: 20.5 %Peru20.5
%. Source: World Bank, Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines, % of population (SI.POV.NAHC). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCountries2018 (%)Change on 2017
1Sierra Leone56.8n/a
2Belize52n/a
3Guinea-Bissau47.7n/a
4Togo45.5n/a
5Guinea43.7n/a
6Chad42.3n/a
7Mali42.1n/a
8Mexico41.9n/a
9Burkina Faso41.4n/a
10Niger40.8n/a
11Bolivia40.5-2.3 pts
12Nigeria40.1n/a
13Côte d’Ivoire39.5n/a
14Benin38.5n/a
15Senegal37.8n/a
16Colombia35.5-0.4 pts
17Angola32.3n/a
18Argentina32+6.3 pts
19Dominican Republic28.3-2.9 pts
20Ukraine27.6-7.3 pts
21Tanzania26.4n/a
22Seychelles25.3n/a
23Grenada25n/a
24Montenegro24.5+0.7 pts
25Romania23.8+0.3 pts
26Armenia23.5-2.2 pts
27Ecuador23.2+1.7 pts
28Albania23-0.4 pts
28Serbia23-1.3 pts
30Costa Rica22.9+0.8 pts
30Latvia22.9-0.4 pts
32Bulgaria22.6+0.6 pts
33Pakistan22.2n/a
34Samoa21.9n/a
35Estonia21.7-0.2 pts
36North Macedonia21.6-0.3 pts
37Panama21.4+0.7 pts
38Spain20.7-0.8 pts
39Lithuania20.6-2.3 pts
40Peru20.5-1.2 pts
41Georgia20.1-1.8 pts
41Italy20.1-0.2 pts
43Laos18.3n/a
44Greece17.9-0.6 pts
45Portugal17.2-0.1 pts
46Malta17.1+0.3 pts
46Sweden17.1+0.7 pts
48Switzerland16+1.4 pts
49Jordan15.7n/a
50Belgium14.8n/a
51Cyprus14.7-0.7 pts
52Türkiye14.4+0.5 pts
53Austria13.3-1 pts
54Netherlands13.2-0.1 pts
55Jamaica12.7-6.6 pts
55Russia12.7-0.3 pts
57Hungary12.3-0.5 pts
58Slovenia12-1.3 pts
59Slovakia11.9-0.3 pts
60Finland11.6-0.4 pts
61Czechia10.1+0.5 pts
62Indonesia9.8-0.8 pts
62Thailand9.8+1.9 pts
64Vietnam6.8-1.1 pts
65Belarus5.6-0.3 pts
66Kazakhstan4.3n/a
67China1.7-1.4 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Share of the population living below the national poverty line that each country sets. World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform, compiled from official government sources or computed by World Bank staff with the national line.

Each country sets its own line, so rates cannot be compared between countries; compare years within one country, and check for method changes, which can move the rate by many points. There is no World value. For the United States see poverty_rate, and for the EU 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. 93 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2018 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 national poverty lines, % of population (SI.POV.NAHC). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

World Bank. (2026). Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines, % of population (SI.POV.NAHC) (Countries by poverty rate at the national poverty line, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC

MLA 9

Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines, % of population (SI.POV.NAHC), Countries by poverty rate at the national poverty line, 2018. World Bank, 8 Oct. 2026, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/poverty-rate-national-line/countries?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

World Bank. 2026. Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines, % of population (SI.POV.NAHC). Countries by poverty rate at the national poverty line, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/poverty-rate-national-line/countries?period=2018.

Harvard

World Bank (2026) Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines, % of population (SI.POV.NAHC), Countries by poverty rate at the national poverty line, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/poverty-rate-national-line/countries?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{world_countries_by_poverty_rate_2018,
  author = {{World Bank}},
  title = {{Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines, \% of population (SI.POV.NAHC): Countries by poverty rate at the national poverty line, 2018}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/poverty-rate-national-line/countries?period=2018. Publisher attribution: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines, \% of population (SI.POV.NAHC). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - World Bank
TI  - Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines, % of population (SI.POV.NAHC): Countries by poverty rate at the national poverty line, 2018
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
PB  - World Bank
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/poverty-rate-national-line/countries?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/poverty-rate-national-line/countries?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines, % of population (SI.POV.NAHC). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

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 poverty rate at the national poverty line using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"poverty_rate_national_line","level":"country","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=poverty_rate_national_line&level=country&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which country has the highest poverty rate at the national poverty line?

Sierra Leone, with 56.8% in 2018, according to the World Bank.

Which country has the lowest poverty rate at the national poverty line?

China, with 1.7% in 2018.

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 national poverty lines, % of population (SI.POV.NAHC). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 93 countries have no value for 2018 and are not ranked.

Poverty rate at the national poverty line: other rankings

Countries: more rankings