Italy vs South Africa: Number of people living in extreme poverty
Italy
58.44 million people
in 2023
South Africa
52.09 million people
in 2022
Italy rank
22nd
South Africa rank
23rd
Number of people living in extreme poverty over time
- Italy
- South Africa
How they compare
Italy currently reports 58.44 million people against 52.09 million people in South Africa, a difference of 6.35 million people.
That makes Italy's figure about 1.1 times South Africa's.
Across all 7 years both countries report, Italy has been ahead every year.
Italy ranks 22nd and South Africa ranks 23rd of 120 countries.
Italy has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Italy | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 55.98 million people | 23.98 million people | 32.00 million people | Italy |
| 2000s | 57.54 million people | 28.84 million people | 28.69 million people | Italy |
| 2010s | 59.21 million people | 39.27 million people | 19.95 million people | Italy |
| 2020s | 58.61 million people | 52.09 million people | 6.52 million people | Italy |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher number of people living in extreme poverty, Italy or South Africa?
- Italy, at 58.44 million people against 52.09 million people in South Africa as of 2023.
- What is the difference in number of people living in extreme poverty between Italy and South Africa?
- 6.35 million people, with Italy ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Italy and South Africa?
- 7 years are reported by both, from 1993 to 2022.
- How do Italy and South Africa rank globally for number of people living in extreme poverty?
- Italy ranks 22nd and South Africa ranks 23rd of 120 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Number of people living in extreme poverty. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Number of people living in households with an income or consumption above $3 per day.