Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%) by country

The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2021 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some...

Countries reporting
121
Highest
23.4%
Honduras
Lowest
0.9%
Azerbaijan
Median
11.4%
Years covered
63
1963–2025
Data points
2,283

What the numbers show

Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%) is currently reported for 121 countries. The highest value is 23.4% in Honduras; the lowest is 0.9% in Azerbaijan.

The median across all reporting countries is 11.4%, and the mean is 12.1%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 26.

Over the past decade 37 countries rose and 76 fell. The largest increase was in Pakistan (up 85.4%), and the largest decrease in Azerbaijan (down 92.8%).

Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Honduras 23.4% 2024 down 5.6% flat
2 Panama 23.2% 2024 up 0.4% falling
3 Colombia 22.7% 2024 down 3.8% rising
4 Zambia 21.9% 2022 up 12.3% falling
5 Brazil 21.2% 2024 down 4.9% falling
6 Israel 21.0% 2022 down 4.1% rising
7 Ghana 20.6% 2016 up 14.4% rising
8 Botswana 20.4% 2015 down 7.3% falling
8 South Africa 20.4% 2022 down 10.1% falling
10 Costa Rica 20.0% 2025 up 7.5% falling
11 Venezuela 19.9% 2006 down 2.9% falling
12 Argentina 19.6% 2024 down 3.4% flat
13 Guatemala 19.1% 2023 down 2.6% falling
14 United States 18.9% 2024 up 11.2% rising
15 Cameroon 18.8% 2021 down 13.4% rising
16 North Macedonia 18.4% 2019 down 15.2% rising
17 Nicaragua 18.3% 2014 up 7.0% falling
18 Ecuador 18.1% 2025 down 4.7% falling
19 Bolivia 17.8% 2024 down 17.6% falling
20 Uruguay 17.4% 2024 down 2.2% falling
21 Jamaica 17.2% 2021 flat
22 Mozambique 17.0% 2022 unchanged rising
22 Peru 17.0% 2024 down 17.1% falling
24 Malaysia 16.5% 2021 down 10.8% falling
25 Paraguay 16.3% 2024 down 17.7% falling
25 Turkey 16.3% 2023 unchanged flat
27 El Salvador 16.2% 2023 down 0.6% falling
28 Belize 16.0% 2018 falling
29 Montenegro 15.9% 2021 up 60.6% rising
30 Mexico 15.7% 2024 down 6.5% falling
31 Dominican Republic 15.3% 2024 down 14.0% falling
32 Spain 14.9% 2023 down 16.3% rising
33 Palestine 14.7% 2023 up 50.0% rising
33 Romania 14.7% 2023 down 29.7% rising
35 Bulgaria 14.6% 2023 down 8.8% rising
36 Italy 14.5% 2023 down 2.0% rising
37 Luxembourg 14.4% 2023 up 13.4% rising
38 Serbia 14.3% 2023 down 28.5% rising
39 Chile 13.9% 2024 down 0.7% falling
40 Japan 13.4% 2020 up 10.7% flat
40 Tajikistan 13.4% 2024 up 14.5% rising
40 Uganda 13.4% 2019 up 5.5% falling
40 Vietnam 13.4% 2022 up 4.7% rising
44 Lithuania 13.3% 2023 up 2.3% rising
45 Togo 13.2% 2021 down 33.3% falling
46 Greece 12.9% 2023 down 25.0% flat
47 Gambia 12.8% 2020 down 15.8% falling
48 Iran 12.6% 2023 up 20.0% falling
48 South Korea 12.6% 2021 up 2.4% rising
50 Germany 12.5% 2022 up 28.9% rising
51 Georgia 12.3% 2024 down 18.5% falling
51 Latvia 12.3% 2023 down 10.9% rising
51 Uzbekistan 12.3% 2025 flat
54 Croatia 12.1% 2023 down 11.7% rising
55 China 12.0% 2022 down 33.7% rising
56 Switzerland 11.9% 2022 up 25.3% rising
56 France 11.9% 2023 up 21.4% flat
58 United Kingdom 11.7% 2021 up 1.7% rising
58 Morocco 11.7% 2013 down 6.4% falling
60 Hungary 11.5% 2017 up 19.8% rising
61 Burundi 11.4% 2020 up 1.8% falling
62 Australia 11.3% 2020 up 7.6% flat
62 Nigeria 11.3% 2022 down 11.0% falling
64 Senegal 11.2% 2021 down 23.3% falling
65 Madagascar 11.1% 2021 down 14.6% falling
65 Malawi 11.1% 2019 down 26.0% rising
67 Austria 11.0% 2023 up 14.6% rising
67 Portugal 11.0% 2023 down 23.6% falling
67 Sweden 11.0% 2023 up 8.9% rising
70 Canada 10.9% 2022 down 22.7% falling
71 Russia 10.8% 2023 down 13.6% falling
71 Tunisia 10.8% 2021 down 28.0% falling
73 Mauritania 10.6% 2019 down 28.9% falling
73 Philippines 10.6% 2023 down 34.6% falling
73 Slovakia 10.6% 2023 unchanged rising
76 Benin 10.5% 2021 down 10.3% rising
76 Burkina Faso 10.5% 2021 down 9.5% falling
78 Malta 10.4% 2023 up 7.2% flat
79 Cote d'Ivoire 10.1% 2021 down 42.0% falling
80 Bosnia and Herzegovina 10.0% 2021 down 20.6% rising
81 Guinea 9.7% 2018 down 29.2% falling
81 Mongolia 9.7% 2022 down 11.8% falling
81 Tanzania 9.7% 2018 down 26.5% falling
84 Albania 9.6% 2020 up 33.3% rising
84 Thailand 9.6% 2024 down 15.0% falling
86 Sri Lanka 9.4% 2019 up 20.5% rising
86 Mali 9.4% 2021 up 6.8% falling
88 Guinea-Bissau 9.1% 2021 down 46.5% falling
88 Kenya 9.1% 2022 down 34.5% falling
90 Ethiopia 8.9% 2021 down 5.3% rising
91 Bhutan 8.8% 2022 down 28.5% falling
91 Poland 8.8% 2023 down 34.8% rising
93 Estonia 8.7% 2023 down 26.9% falling
94 Belgium 8.3% 2023 down 17.8% rising
95 Laos 8.1% 2024 down 16.5% rising
95 Rwanda 8.1% 2023 down 33.6% falling
97 Netherlands 7.9% 2021 up 6.8% rising
97 Nepal 7.9% 2022 up 9.7% rising
97 Syria 7.9% 2022 down 49.0% falling
100 Norway 7.6% 2023 up 7.0% rising
100 Pakistan 7.6% 2024 up 85.4% falling
102 Cyprus 7.5% 2023 down 5.1% rising
102 Jordan 7.5% 2010 down 28.6% falling
104 Finland 7.4% 2023 up 10.4% rising
105 Ireland 7.3% 2023 down 36.0% falling
106 Czechia 7.0% 2023 unchanged rising
107 Bangladesh 6.8% 2022 up 33.3% rising
108 Indonesia 6.7% 2025 down 23.0% rising
109 Denmark 6.6% 2023 down 1.5% rising
110 Iceland 6.3% 2019 down 10.0% flat
111 Armenia 6.2% 2024 down 26.2% falling
112 Slovenia 5.9% 2023 down 30.6% falling
113 Ukraine 5.1% 2020 up 15.9% falling
114 Niger 4.9% 2021 down 14.0% falling
115 Kyrgyzstan 4.6% 2024 up 35.3% volatile
116 Egypt 4.4% 2021 unchanged falling
117 Moldova 4.3% 2023 down 36.8% falling
118 Belarus 3.9% 2020 down 54.1% falling
119 India 3.4% 2022 down 8.1% falling
120 Kazakhstan 3.1% 2021 down 36.7% volatile
121 Azerbaijan 0.9% 2005 down 92.8% volatile

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

About this data

Indicator
Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%)
Unit
%
Source
World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
122 places, 2,283 data points, 1963–2025
Last refreshed

The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2021 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries, medians are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported.