71M people face poverty due to war in Ukraine, says UN
ANKARA (AA) – Some 71 million people have fallen into poverty due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, according to the UN Development Program (UNDP).
The impact of the war on food and energy prices is expected to increase the number of poor in the world.
According to the UNDP report on the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war, approximately 51 million people fell below the poverty line in the first three months of the war which started on Feb. 24.
Increasing the number of the poor in the world to 9%, the war has also caused the daily income of around 20 million people to fall below the poverty line of $3.20 in lower-middle-income countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic had caused up to 163 million people to fall below the poverty line last year, while increasing the number of people working for $2.15 a day by 8.1%, which is the extreme poverty line.
The World Bank estimates that this year, the figure will rise by 75-95 million.
Also, food inflation is expected to further hit the poor, while it is estimated that two-thirds of per capita income will be spent on food expenditures in lower-income countries, while this rate is expected to reach a quarter of the income in developed countries.