Global Issues. Kristen A. Hite
Note that much of that progress took place in East Asia and South Asia, where China and India are located. By their sheer population size, overall increases in income of the poorest people in these two countries has significantly improved the global poverty rate. The impressive economic growth that both nations experienced in the late twentieth century, especially China, came after they introduced new economic policies that spurred foreign investments. At the beginning of the 1980s, China was one of the poorest countries in the world with about 60 percent of its people living in extreme poverty. Between 1981 and 2012, China more than halved the number of people living on less than $1.25 per day (reduced by 660 million).20 Poverty rates fell from 51 percent in 1990 to about 24 percent in 2015.21 By 2017, the rate of extreme poverty (people living on less than $1.90) in China had fallen dramatically: down to 0.7 percent of the population.22 The unprecedented reduction of extreme poverty in China and India are shown in Figures 2.2 and 2.3 respectively. Figure 2.4 demonstrates the global trend in poverty reduction.
Overall, the global growth in wealth last century corresponded to marked increases in well‐being, as illustrated in this excerpt from a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
Progress in human development during the twentieth century was dramatic and unprecedented. Between 1960 and 2000 life expectancy in developing countries increased from 46 to 63 years. Mortality rates for children under five were more than halved. Between 1975, when one of every two adults could not read, and 2000 the share of illiterate people was almost halved. Real per capita incomes more than doubled from $2,000 to $4,200.23
Figure 2.2 Poverty trend (by International Standards: $1.90 USD): China
Source: World Bank, Poverty and Equity Database and PovcalNnet, 2018.
Figure 2.3 Poverty trend (by International Standards: $1.90 USD): India
Source: World Bank, Poverty and Equity Database and PovcalNet, 2018.
Figure 2.4 Percent of the global population living in poverty on less than $1.90 USD a day: International Poverty Line ($1.90)
Source: World Bank, Poverty and Equity Database and Povcalanet, 2018.
Mainstreaming Sustainable Development
Continuing to focus on positive developments, one can find many reasons to feel optimistic. As discussed in Chapter 1, in 2000, representatives of 189 nations met in a conference sponsored by the United Nations and adopted eight goals they would work to achieve in the new century. Each goal, which applied from 2000 to 2015, had specific targets to help measure progress in reaching the goal. To address poverty, the United Nations set a target of reducing by half the number of people living on the equivalent of less than $1 a day by 2015. This poverty goal was successful, leading to a new and more ambitious goal for the 2015–2030 period under the Sustainable Development Goals.
How did the world do in achieving the first Millennium Development Goal – a goal, by the way, unprecedented in the world’s history? As we have seen from the information presented above, China and India are doing quite well, but the same cannot be said for many other countries. Take the time to read the following paragraph from the Millennium Development Goals Report 2015 by the United Nations, as it presents a good summary of the world’s progress up to that date in achieving this goal:
The world economy continues to grow at a modest pace. Growth of world gross product is projected to accelerate slightly from 2.6 per cent in 2014 to 2.8 per cent in 2015—a downward revision by 0.3 percentage points from the forecast presented in the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015 in January. In 2016, global growth is forecast to improve to 3.1 per cent. There are still considerable downside risks to the baseline forecast, related to the upcoming move towards monetary policy normalization in the United States, ongoing uncertainties in the euro area, potential spillovers from geopolitical conflicts and persistent vulnerabilities in emerging economies. The overall subdued performance of the world economy since the global financial crisis has raised concerns of a “new normal” of lower growth, especially in view of a broad‐based weakness in investment.
Plate 2.1 Poverty in Indonesia
Source: World Bank.
The downward revision in global growth for 2015 reflects mainly a deteriorating outlook in the economies in transition and several large developing countries, especially in South America. Gross domestic product (GDP) in the economies in transition is projected to contract by 2 per cent this year, while average growth in developing countries is expected to remain at 4.4 per cent, about 3 percentage points below the pre‐crisis pace. The growth divergence between the various regions is widening in 2015. This can be partly attributed to the differing impacts from the recent drop in the prices of oil and other commodities.24
By 2014, the Millennium Development Goal of halving the extreme poverty rate had been met: by 2010, 700 million fewer people lived on $1.25 per day than in 1990.25 While much of the world still lives in extreme poverty and hunger, this successful reduction can point to a glass‐half‐full outlook.
Then in 2015, nations adopted a new and more ambitious 15‐year target under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: ending poverty by 2030. Optimists cite the information