{
  "id": 14116681,
  "title": "‘Acute’ poverty stats will only rise",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/acute-poverty-stats-will-only-rise",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-13T04:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Citizen",
    "slug": "the-citizen",
    "url": "https://www.citizen.co.za/news/opinion/acute-poverty-stats-will-only-rise/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "For the first time ever, a United Nations global poverty index has risen, with 1.2 billion people now living in extreme poverty, UNDP and Oxford research reveal. This figure marks a 51.5 million increase from the previous year, with more than half of those affected being children. The report considered factors like inadequate housing, sanitation, electricity, cooking fuel, food, and education. Alexander De Croo, UNDP administrator, expressed deep concern, stating that the hardships faced by these individuals are interconnected, including hunger, missed schooling, and lack of clean water or electricity. The majority of the world's poorest reside in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, particularly the Indian subcontinent. In South Africa alone, poverty impacts 37.9% of the population, or about 23.2 million people, living below the poverty line, with seven out of ten of these individuals under 34 years old. This issue is likely to worsen due to South Africa's persistent high unemployment rate and stagnant economy, suggesting the numbers will continue to climb in both local and global contexts.",
  "summary": "Children account for more than half of the additional people living in acute poverty, according to the latest UN report.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}