23% of Lankans living below poverty line: World Bank

Over 23% of Sri Lanka’s population is living below the poverty line, a World Bank report titled “World Development Indicators (WDI) 2015” maintains.

The international poverty line is two dollars a day or an income

The poverty headcount ratio at $1.25 a day is the share of the population living on less than $1.25 a day in 2005 purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. The PPP 2005 $1.25 a day poverty line is the average poverty line of the 15 poorest countries in the world, estimated from household surveys conducted by national statistical offices or by private agencies under the supervision of government or international agencies.

A comparison of regional countries showed that the poverty rate in Pakistan and Maldives was about 50 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively. The poverty rate in India and Bangladesh was higher than Sri Lanka with 59.2 percent and 76.5 percent.

Analysis of the data revealed that 31.6 percent of children under the age of five are suffering from malnutrition and are underweight. Mortality rate under five is 86 per 1000 birth-rate and maternal mortality ratio is 170 per 100,000 births. The youth literacy rate was recorded at 71 per cent for ages 15-24 and primary completion rate was 73 per cent of relevant age group. The unemployment ratio is 5 percent in Pakistan of total labour force.

Environment indicators show that average annual deforestation in the country is 2.24 percent cent and 10.6 percent of the terrestrial and marine area of the total terrestrial and marine area is nationally protected. The internal renewable freshwater resources are 302 per capita cubic meters and 91 percent of the total population has access to improved water resources. About 48 percent population, according to WDI, has access to improved sanitation facilities. The average annual growth in urban population is 2.8 percent.