World Bank estimates as many as 100 million people may fall into poverty due to the coronavirus pandemic


In April, the World Bank estimated the coronavirus pandemic would push somewhere between 40 million and 60 million people into poverty worldwide. On Monday, that figure increased to between 70 million and 100 million, The Financial Times reports. The bank also now anticipates the global economy will shrink by 5.2 percent, up from its three percent prediction in April.
"This is a deeply sobering outlook, with the crisis likely to leave long-lasting scars and pose major global challenges," said Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, World Bank Group's vice president for equitable growth, finance, and institutions.
Emerging and developing economies, including Russia, Brazil, and India, are expected to shrink for the first time in 60 years, with a 2.5 percent contraction in emerging markets' GDP, and a 3.6 percent decrease in global income per capita. The World Bank expects nations in Latin America and the Caribbean to suffer the hardest blow, forecasting that the region will experience a 7.2 percent GDP decline.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Even regions that could see an expansion, like East Asia and Pacific, would have their smallest economic growth since 1967, per the bank. Read more at The Financial Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Roblox, one of the world's most popular video games, has become a bastion of hate speech
The Explainer The platform has over 111 million daily users
-
Russian strike on Kyiv kills 23, hits EU offices
Speed Read The strike was the second-largest since Russia invaded in 2022
-
Did Trump just push India into China's arms?
Today's Big Question Tariffs disrupt American efforts to align with India
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year