What went right this week: Indonesia’s plummeting poverty rate, plus more.
Our World in Data reports that Indonesia cut extreme poverty from 86% of its population in 1984 to under 4% in 2025, a decline that did not quite match China's.
Our World in Data, the research publication, has highlighted Indonesia as an example of rapid poverty reduction in a recent Data Insight. It compares the country's progress with that of China, which is often cited as the leading case.
According to the publication, more than 90% of China's population lived in extreme poverty in the early 1980s, and by the early 2020s the figure had dropped to nearly zero. It cautions against assuming that China alone explains the global fall in extreme poverty, noting that many countries have seen large reductions. Indonesia appears alongside China on the accompanying chart.
In 1984, 86% of Indonesians lived on less than $3 per day. By 2025, that share had fallen to below 4%. The publication says the number of people in extreme poverty in Indonesia dropped from 140 million to about 10 million over the period. It acknowledges that Indonesia's decline did not quite match China's, but calls it impressive.
The piece notes that the international poverty line of $3 per day is extremely low, and it says Indonesia has also made progress when measured against higher poverty lines. This entry does not give figures for those higher thresholds.
Other entries on the same page place the trend in a global frame. Max Roser writes that the share of the world's population living on less than $3 per day fell from 36% in 2000 to 10% in 2024. The share below $5 per day fell from 57% to 25%, and the share below $10 per day fell from 74% to 53%. He also notes that most people still live on low incomes: 81% of the world's population lives on less than $30 per day, or about $900 a month.
At a Glance
- In 1984, 86% of Indonesians lived on less than $3 per day; by 2025 the share was below 4%.
- Indonesia's count of people in extreme poverty fell from 140 million to about 10 million, per Our World in Data.
- China's extreme poverty rate fell from over 90% in the early 1980s to nearly zero by the early 2020s.
- Globally, the share living on less than $3 per day fell from 36% in 2000 to 10% in 2024.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.