10% in Asia-Pacific still suffering from acute poverty: ADB

Microfinance Focus, Sept 11, 2009: Extreme poverty affects at least 10 per cent of the population in many parts of the Asia and Pacific region, Asian Development Bank said in a report.
Titled “The Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2009”, the report lists 19 economies where more than 10 per cent of the population were living on less than $1.25 a day in the latest year for which data are available. Six of the 19 economies are from the former Soviet Union. Four of the five most populous countries are also included and the data is not available for Indonesia.
Five of the economies China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam have at least halved the percentages of their population living on less than $1.25 a day while four other economies — Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, and Uzbekistan — have experienced rising poverty rates, the report said.
The report is the flagship annual statistical data book of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It presents the latest available economic, financial, social, environmental, and Millennium Development Goals (MDG) indicators for regional members of ADB.

Source: ADB, 40th edition The Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2009

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