Which country in Africa has the most extreme poverty?

The DR Congo has the most extreme poverty in Africa: 85.3% under $3.00 a day (2020). Next come Mozambique (81.4% under $3.00 a day) and the South Sudan (76.5% under $3.00 a day).

Which country in Africa has the least extreme poverty?

Mauritius, with 0.5% under $3.00 a day (2017).

What is the typical extreme poverty of a country in Africa?

The median of the 47 countries in Africa is 38.6% under $3.00 a day: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.

Where do the figures come from?

The share of people living on less than $3.00 a day — the international poverty line, at 2021 prices adjusted for what money buys in each country. Source: World Bank, mostly 2021. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.

Countries in Africa by extreme poverty

The share of people living on less than $3.00 a day — the international poverty line, at 2021 prices adjusted for what money buys in each country. 47 countries in Africa, highest first. World Bank, mostly 2021

See it on the map

Map: Extreme poverty — Africa — **0.1%0.4%**1%3%**12%39%**No data

Highest

85.3%

DR Congo

Median country

38.6%

half above, half below

Lowest

0.5%

Mauritius

Countries in Africa by extreme poverty, World Bank, mostly 2021
#	Country	% under $3.00 a day	Year	Region
1	DR Congo	85.3%	2020	Middle Africa
2	Mozambique	81.4%	2022	Eastern Africa
3	South Sudan	76.5%	2016	Eastern Africa
4	Malawi	75.4%	2019	Eastern Africa
5	Burundi	74.2%	2020	Eastern Africa
6	Zambia	71.7%	2022	Eastern Africa
7	Central African Republic	71.6%	2021	Middle Africa
8	Madagascar	69.2%	2021	Eastern Africa
9	Niger	60.5%	2021	Western Africa
10	Uganda	59.8%	2019	Eastern Africa
11	Tanzania	51.3%	2018	Eastern Africa
12	Zimbabwe	49.2%	2019	Eastern Africa
13	Kenya	45.5%	2022	Eastern Africa
14	Eswatini	44.5%	2016	Southern Africa
15	Burkina Faso	42.1%	2021	Western Africa
16	Lesotho	41.9%	2017	Southern Africa
17	Nigeria	41.8%	2022	Western Africa
18	Sierra Leone	41.5%	2018	Western Africa
19	Guinea-Bissau	39.9%	2021	Western Africa
20	Chad	39.5%	2022	Middle Africa
21	Angola	39.3%	2018	Middle Africa
22	Ghana	39.0%	2016	Western Africa
=23	Ethiopia	38.6%	2021	Eastern Africa
=23	Rwanda	38.6%	2023	Eastern Africa
25	Mali	36.1%	2021	Western Africa
26	Togo	34.7%	2021	Western Africa
27	Liberia	33.6%	2016	Western Africa
28	Benin	27.2%	2021	Western Africa
29	Cameroon	26.7%	2021	Middle Africa
30	Djibouti	25.4%	2017	Eastern Africa
31	Namibia	22.9%	2015	Southern Africa
32	Gambia	22.0%	2020	Western Africa
33	Botswana	21.4%	2015	Southern Africa
34	Côte d'Ivoire	20.8%	2021	Western Africa
35	Senegal	17.9%	2021	Western Africa
36	South Africa	17.4%	2022	Southern Africa
37	Cabo Verde	14.6%	2015	Western Africa
38	São Tomé and Principe	13.0%	2017	Middle Africa
39	Guinea	11.7%	2018	Western Africa
40	Mauritania	10.2%	2019	Western Africa
41	Equatorial Guinea	8.8%	2022	Middle Africa
42	Comoros	5.1%	2024	Eastern Africa
43	Gabon	3.8%	2017	Middle Africa
44	Egypt	1.4%	2021	Northern Africa
=45	Seychelles	0.7%	2018	Eastern Africa
=45	Tunisia	0.7%	2021	Northern Africa
47	Mauritius	0.5%	2017	Eastern Africa

No World Bank figure for 7 countries: Algeria, Congo, Eritrea, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan.

Questions

Which country in Africa has the most extreme poverty?: The DR Congo has the most extreme poverty in Africa: 85.3% under $3.00 a day (2020). Next come Mozambique (81.4% under $3.00 a day) and the South Sudan (76.5% under $3.00 a day).
Which country in Africa has the least extreme poverty?: Mauritius, with 0.5% under $3.00 a day (2017).
What is the typical extreme poverty of a country in Africa?: The median of the 47 countries in Africa is 38.6% under $3.00 a day: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.
Where do the figures come from?: The share of people living on less than $3.00 a day — the international poverty line, at 2021 prices adjusted for what money buys in each country. Source: World Bank, mostly 2021. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.

Source: World Bank (CC BY 4.0). Figures more than 10 years older than the newest are left out rather than shown beside current ones. Countries sharing a value share a rank. All sources.