Capitalism Has Dramatically Reduced the Number of People Living in Extreme Poverty

In 1820, 94.4% of humans were living in extreme poverty. Only a tiny fraction of the world enjoyed standards of living that were remotely bearable. Progress was initially slow. By 1910, the share had only gotten down to 82.4%—a 12-point drop over 90 years. But things picked up after the Second World War, and 89 years after 1910, only 28.9% of people were in extreme poverty. In 2011, the most recent year represented in the chart, the extreme poverty rate had been cut to half its 1999 level—14.4%.

World Poverty Even though a countless number of socialists and conservative pessimists want you to think otherwise, globalisation and capitalism work!

Image: Chart from Our World in Data.