The number of people living in extreme poverty is likely to fall for the first time below 10 percent of the world's population in 2015, the World Bank said Sunday as it revised its benchmark for measuring the problem.
Extreme poverty has long been defined as living on or below $1.25 a day, but the World Bank's adjustment now sets the poverty line at $1.90 a day.
The Bank said the change reflects new data on differences in the cost of living across countries, while preserving the real purchasing power of the previous yardstick.