End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Ending poverty requires more than raising incomes. It depends on decent work that pays a living wage (SDG 8), social protection systems that catch people when shocks hit, and a narrowing of the inequalities that concentrate deprivation among particular groups and places (SDG 10) — inequalities that also shape who gets access to health care and education in the first place (SDG 3).
Poverty today is increasingly a geography of fragility. An overwhelming and growing share of the world’s extreme poor live in countries affected by conflict, weak institutions or climate shocks, not simply low national income. Ending poverty (SDG 1) is therefore bound tightly to building the peaceful, capable institutions that can sustain progress (SDG 16).
Progress on SDG 1 remains far off track. In 2026, an estimated 826 million people — 10 per cent of the world’s population — live in extreme poverty on less than $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), a decline of only 3 percentage points since 2015. Extreme poverty is projected to fall only to around 9 per cent by 2030, with four in five of the remaining poor concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa or in fragile and conflict-affected countries. Sub-Saharan Africa, where extreme poverty rose 2 percentage points during the COVID-19 pandemic and only returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2025, now accounts for 71 per cent of the world’s extreme poor.
Social protection coverage has improved: 52.4 per cent of the global population received at least one benefit in 2023, up from 42.8 per cent in 2015 and, for the first time, covering more than half of humanity — yet 3.8 billion people remain unprotected, and coverage ranges from 79.6 per cent among older persons to just 16.7 per cent among the unemployed. Working poverty has also eased, with 7.9 per cent of employed people (284 million workers) living in extreme poverty in 2025, down from 11 per cent in 2015.
Financing has moved the wrong way, however: official development assistance grants targeting poverty reduction fell 8.7 per cent between 2023 and 2024, erasing a decade of progress and returning aid levels to where they stood in 2015. The full picture of official indicators is tracked by the UN Statistics Division in its annual SDG progress report.
The primary tracking reports for SDG 1 are the World Bank’s Poverty, Prosperity and Planet Report, which produces the headline global extreme-poverty estimates, and the ILO’s World Social Protection Report, published every two to three years, which tracks coverage gaps by scheme, group and region. The current World Social Protection Report 2024–26 documents the wide gap between coverage for older persons and for the unemployed.
The primary intergovernmental forum is the Commission for Social Development (CSocD), which meets each February in New York. CSocD64, held 2–10 February 2026, served as the first global follow-up milestone after the Second World Summit for Social Development, held in Doha in November 2025, where governments renewed commitments on poverty eradication, universal social protection floors and decent work. SDG 1 progress is also reviewed annually at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) each July in New York.
These organisations hold the lead mandates on poverty measurement, social protection and the intergovernmental follow-up process under SDG 1.
By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day
Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographic location (urban/rural)
By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age
Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable
Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable
By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance
Proportion of population living in households with access to basic services
Proportion of total adult population with secure tenure rights to land, (a) with legally recognized documentation, and (b) who perceive their rights to land as secure, by sex and type of tenure
By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters
Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
Direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP)
Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030
Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions
Total official development assistance grants from all donors that focus on poverty reduction as a share of the recipient country’s gross national income
Proportion of total government spending on essential services (education, health and social protection)
1.b Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions
Pro-poor public social spending
Years of delays are being added to climate commitments because of bureaucratic planning processes. We must speed up action in ways that are transparent, equitable, and effective if we’re to protect vulnerable communities from the devastating impacts of global warming
Human rights — Global
Access to safe drinking water and sanitation are established human rights. Yet, halfway through the Water Action Decade, billions of people are still denied them. This year, nations have pledged to drive transformation to a water-secure world, and must now urgently act on their promises
Global governance — Global
For the developed world, increasingly there appears to be only one existential crisis in town: climate change. Achieving the broader agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) demands deep reform of the international financial system and urgent recalibration of political will
Financing — Global
In the words of the UN Secretary-General, developing countries have limited access to the financial resources they need to address the dramatic challenges they face and implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The global financial architecture, created for a very different world eight decades ago, needs urgent reform to make it fit for purpose
Business — Global
As the pace of societal change accelerates, many jobs considered essential today will become obsolete tomorrow. Creating resilience and adaptability, particularly among the world’s most vulnerable workers, is essential and requires a global, whole-of-society policy effort and investment
Financing — Global
Investment in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is often presented as discretionary, expendable when funds are tight. We must change public and political perceptions to recognize the full scope of the returns that SDG-aligned investments can yield
Financing — Global
At the mid-point on the way to 2030, SDG financing is under pressure. Reforms of the global finance system, and more targeted financing solutions, are needed to get back on track to meet the Global Goals
Gender — Global
As with most threats to well-being, poverty has an accentuated impact on women. Tackling this requires integrated action on several fronts to address the systemic inequalities women face across the world today
Climate — Global
Humanity should survive the decades to come, but will it thrive? A lot depends on how many costs our leaders are willing to pay up front, and how many they will wait to have inflicted upon them
Migrants and refugees — Global
As the climate warms, more people will be forced or will want to move, both within and between countries. How do we ensure that migration is supported, equitable, and beneficial for migrants and for sending and receiving communities?
