Poverty, social protection and agriculture: Levels and trends in data

This paper shows that despite progress in reducing extreme poverty, little progress has been made in reducing the number of people living on between $1.25 and $2 a day and it provides updated estimates of rural and urban poverty for regions throughout the developing world. It then shows the dramatic growth in recent decades in government expenditures on social protection, defined broadly. Next it shows that social assistance coverage is lowest and amounts transferred the smallest in parts of the world where poverty is most widespread. It shows that few households receive both social assistance and agricultural input subsidies. It concludes by summarizing levels and trends in poverty and social protection and identifying data gaps.