World Bank. March 2026 Update to the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP)
The March 2026 Update to the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) presents the latest revisions to global poverty and inequality data compiled by the World Bank. This technical note documents methodological improvements, new data incorporation, and updates to global poverty estimates, including projections (nowcasts) through 2026.
What is the PIP and why it matters
The Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) is the World Bank’s primary database for tracking global poverty. It compiles household survey data from across the world to estimate poverty rates and inequality trends.
This update is relevant because even small methodological adjustments can change global poverty figures and influence policy decisions.
Key updates in the March 2026 release
The report introduces several important changes:
- Expansion of data precision using Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) bins (from 400 to 1,000)
- Addition of 28 new country-year observations
- Revision of 447 existing datasets
- Coverage expanded to over 2,500 welfare distributions across 172 economies
These updates aim to improve accuracy and comparability of global poverty estimates.
Global poverty trends
The updated data shows that global poverty continues to decline slowly, but unevenly.
According to Table 1 (page 5):
- Extreme poverty ($3.00/day, 2021 PPP) reached 10.4% in 2024
- It is projected to decrease to 10.0% by 2026
- At higher thresholds ($8.30/day), poverty also declines gradually
However, progress varies significantly by region.
Regional differences
- East Asia & Pacific and South Asia show strong improvements
- Latin America & Caribbean continues gradual reduction
- Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the highest poverty levels
- MENAAP (Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan) is the only region where poverty has increased recently
This divergence highlights persistent structural inequalities across regions.
Revisions and data changes
The update includes both new data and corrections to existing datasets.
Key adjustments include:
- Updated survey weights (e.g., Kenya, South Africa)
- Corrections in income variables (e.g., Chile, Colombia)
- Improved treatment of imputed rent and household size (multiple countries)
- Inclusion of partial or limited-coverage surveys (e.g., Lebanon)
These changes often produce only minor differences, but in some cases (e.g., South Africa or Bosnia and Herzegovina), revisions are more substantial due to methodological shifts.
Methodological improvements
A major technical improvement is the transition from 400-bin to 1,000-bin data in the LIS database.
This change:
- Increases precision in income distribution estimates
- Has minimal impact on headline poverty rates
- Enhances consistency across datasets
Additionally, updates were made to:
- Consumer Price Index (CPI) sources
- National accounts data
- Population estimates
These adjustments ensure alignment with the latest global statistical standards.
Data coverage and limitations
The report also acknowledges limitations in data coverage:
- Some surveys exclude regions due to conflict or accessibility issues
- Certain countries rely on partial datasets (e.g., Lebanon 2022)
- Comparability across time may be affected by survey changes
To address this, PIP now explicitly flags cases with non-national coverage and provides metadata on comparability.
Reference
Castaneda Aguilar, R. A., Arayavechkit, T., Baez, J., Cojocaru, A., Dewina, R., Diaz-Bonilla, C., Fujs, T., Kariuki, N. M., Lakner, C., Lara Ibarra, G., Lønborg, J., Mahler, D. G., Montoya, K. Y., Moreno, L. L., Nguyen, M. C., Nozaki, N. K., Phadera, L., Purnamasari, R. S., Sajaia, Z., … Yonzan, N. (2026). March 2026 update to the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP): What’s new. World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/44626