The bar chart illustrates the proportion of people living in poverty across different regions in 1993 and 2002, while the pie chart compares rural and urban poverty in 2002.
Overall poverty remained more notable in rural areas than in urban ones, while most regions saw considerable decline in rural poverty over the period, Europe and Central Asia showed a significant rise in 2002.
It can be observed that East Asia and Pacific region recorded the highest level of rural poverty rate at around 80%, followed by Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa as these regions remained close to 80%. East Asia and Pacific remained on similar levels in 2002. However, Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa experienced considerable reduction. A similar trend can be witnessed for Latin America and Caribbean, with figures decreasing from just below 60% to 40% in 2002. In contrast, Europe and Central Asia was the only region that exhibited a reverse pattern where rural poverty increased, rising from just over 40% to around 60% in 2002. According to the pie chart, the population of poor and rural areas was 76%, while only 24% were within urban areas in 2002.