by howmuch
According to the World Bank, 10 percent of the world’s population lives in extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $1.90 USD per day. While this threshold is shockingly low (it would amount to an income of less than $1,000 per year), residents in some countries can make significantly more money and still be classified as living in poverty.
Eurostat defines the At-Risk-Of-Poverty (AROP) threshold as having less than 60 percent of the country’s median income. Our latest visualization uses income data from census agencies in different countries to show how much money each country’s household must make to be considered at risk of poverty.
In order to ensure consistency when comparing different countries, we translated foreign currencies into USD using publicly available exchange rates accessed in March 2019.
Top 5 Countries With the Highest At-Risk-Of-Poverty Income Thresholds
1. Singapore: $70,640 median income | $42,384 AROP
2. United States: $60,336 median income | $36,202 AROP
3. Australia: $53,091 median income | $31,855 AROP
4. Canada: $50,325 median income | $30,195 AROP
5. Switzerland: $50,313 median income | $30,188 AROP
Bottom 5 Countries With the Lowest At-Risk-Of-Poverty Income Thresholds
1. Serbia: $2,889 median income | $1,733 AROP
2. Romania: $3,126 median income | $1,876 AROP
3. Bulgaria: $4,090 median income | $2,454 AROP
4. Turkey: $4,281 median income | $2,568 AROP
5. Hungary: $5,692 median income | $3,415 AROP
For visualization purposes, we chose to analyze countries where the data was available and updated. Poverty thresholds and other measures of economic well-being can also vary within a country, based on median household income and cost-of-living within individual regions or cities. Interested in how income needs vary within a single country? View this visualization which details how much money Americans need for economic security in each state.
Data: Table 1.1