The last century witnessed major improvements in the health and education status of many developing countries, reflected in declining infant mortality rates, increasing life expectancy, and higher literacy rates.

Poverty in the Asia and Pacific region is marked by two significant factors: magnitude and diversity. Close to 900 million or 75 percent of the world’s poor live in the Asian and Pacific Region, including Central Asia.

Nearly one in three Asians is poor.

Some progress has been made in South Asia, although the depth of poverty reaches similar levels as Sub-Saharan Africa.