The coronavirus pandemic is likely to drop 420 to 580 million more people, or 8 percent of the world’s population, into poverty if the global plague leads to a 20-percent decline in world economic activity, according to a United Nations study.
If the economic damage is greater or protracted, as many as half the world’s people could fall below the poverty line.
Most of the losses would be seen in sub-Sarahan Africa and South Asia, particularly India, the study said.
Depending on the region, the economic pandemic could reverse 10 to 30 years of progress in eradicating destitution.
The U.N.’s International Labour Organisation estimates the pandemic also could add 35 million people around the world to the ranks of the working poor.
The study’s authors said they were startled by “the scale of the poverty tsunami” that could follow the virus in the developing world.
