Compare poverty, inequality, internet access, electricity, sanitation, urbanization, and other indicators that help describe everyday development and living conditions around the world.
How to use the Development & Living Standards Explorer
Choose an indicator from the menu and the map shows how countries compare. Click a country, or search for it, to see a profile of everyday living conditions, including poverty, inequality, internet use, electricity, sanitation, city living, and work.
What the indicators mean
- Poverty at $3.00 a day – the share of people living on less than $3.00 a day, the World Bank’s international extreme-poverty line. It is measured in 2021 “purchasing power parity” dollars, which adjust for differences in prices between countries.
- Gini index – a measure of income or consumption inequality from 0 to 100. A score of 0 means everyone has exactly the same, and 100 means one person has everything.
- Internet use – the share of people who used the internet in the past three months.
- Access to electricity – the share of people with an electricity connection at home.
- Basic sanitation access – the share of people using at least a basic toilet or latrine that isn’t shared with other households.
- Urban population – the share of people living in cities and towns.
- Labor-force participation – the share of people aged 15 and older who are working or looking for work.
What the latest data shows
- Extreme poverty has fallen dramatically in much of the world. In the latest surveys, it is close to 0% in China and South Korea and about 3% in India and Brazil, but around 42% in Nigeria. Most of the world’s extreme poverty is now concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Inequality varies widely. Brazil’s Gini index (about 50) is among the highest of large countries, the United States is about 42, while Germany, Japan, and South Korea are around 32–34.
- Internet use is almost universal in South Korea (about 98%) and the United States (about 95%), but about 70% in India and about 41% in Nigeria.
- Electricity now reaches nearly everyone in most countries, but only about 62% of people in Nigeria.
Why these measures matter
Income alone doesn’t describe how people live. Two countries with similar average incomes can be very different if one has reliable electricity, clean toilets, and internet access while the other does not. These indicators help show what daily life is actually like, and where progress is still needed. Many of them are part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Reading the data carefully
- Poverty and Gini data come from household surveys, which many countries carry out only every few years. Always check the year shown next to each value.
- The poverty line was updated in 2025. Older reports used $2.15 a day (in 2017 prices). The new $3.00 line reflects updated price data, so figures are not directly comparable with older ones.
- Some countries measure income and others measure consumption, which can make Gini scores harder to compare.
Where the data comes from
All figures come from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, which combine household surveys, the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform, the International Telecommunication Union, and the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for water and sanitation.
Explore more
- Economic Explorer – GDP per capita and unemployment
- Health Explorer – life expectancy and health care
- Education Explorer – literacy and schooling