The impact of the pandemic and conflict in Ukraine, rising inflation and the cost of living have more than doubled the number of poor people in the developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region, Report informs referring to TASS citing the Asian Development Bank.
Last year, in the developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region, the number of people living in poverty reached 155.2 million, which is equal to 3.9% of the region’s population.
Experts estimate that the number of poor has risen by 67.8 million due to health and cost of living crises. The study doesn’t take into account the statistics of countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
The Asia-Pacific region is gradually recovering from the covid pandemic, but rising costs of living are undermining progress in eradicating poverty, said Albert Park, the bank’s chief economist.