Some more Global Poverty Facts by Navtej Kohli

Navtej Kohli brings some more sad and unfortunately true statistics:

1. Rural areas account for three in every four people living on less than US$1 a day and a similar share of the world population suffering from malnutrition. However, urbanization is not synonymous with human progress. Urban slum growth is outpacing urban growth by a wide margin.

2. In developing countries some 2.5 billion people are forced to rely on biomass—fuelwood, charcoal and animal dung—to meet their energy needs for cooking. In sub-Saharan Africa, over 80 percent of the population depends on traditional biomass for cooking, as do over half of the populations of India and China.

3. Indoor air pollution resulting from the use of solid fuels [by poorer segments of society] is a major killer. It claims the lives of 1.5 million people each year, more than half of them below the age of five: that is 4000 deaths a day. To put this number in context, it exceeds total deaths from malaria and rivals the number of deaths from tuberculosis.

4. 1.6 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live without electricity

5. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined.

6. For every $1 in aid a developing country receives, over $25 is spent on debt repayment.

7. 20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the world’s goods.

8. A mere 12 percent of the world’s population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World.

Read more interesting facts on Navtej Kohli Rediffblog