Number of people living in extreme poverty in Taiwan
Taiwan: Number of people living in extreme poverty was 23.46 million people in 2021. ▲ Rising
Number of people living in extreme poverty in Taiwan, 1981–2021
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
Taiwan recorded 23.46 million people for number of people living in extreme poverty in 2021.
That represents a change of down 0.4% on the previous year and up 1.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people living in extreme poverty in Taiwan peaked at 23.57 million people in 2019 and was at its lowest, 18.01 million people, in 1981.
Taiwan ranks 40th of 120 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 16 years of available data.
Number of people living in extreme poverty in Taiwan, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 18.01 million people | — |
| 1986 | 19.39 million people | +7.7% |
| 1991 | 20.50 million people | +5.7% |
| 1995 | 21.15 million people | +3.2% |
| 1997 | 21.60 million people | +2.1% |
| 2000 | 22.17 million people | +2.6% |
| 2005 | 22.72 million people | +2.5% |
| 2007 | 22.90 million people | +0.8% |
| 2010 | 23.09 million people | +0.8% |
| 2013 | 23.32 million people | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 23.48 million people | +0.7% |
| 2017 | 23.53 million people | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 23.55 million people | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 23.57 million people | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 23.56 million people | -0.0% |
| 2021 | 23.46 million people | -0.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 18.70 million people | 18.01 million people | 19.39 million people | 2 |
| 1990s | 21.09 million people | 20.50 million people | 21.60 million people | 3 |
| 2000s | 22.60 million people | 22.17 million people | 22.90 million people | 3 |
| 2010s | 23.42 million people | 23.09 million people | 23.57 million people | 6 |
| 2020s | 23.51 million people | 23.46 million people | 23.56 million people | 2 |
Countries ranked near Taiwan
More poverty & inequality data for Taiwan
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 6 surveys (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 0.87 live births per woman (2023)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty 17.4% (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient in women 0.0807 (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient by sex 0.0807 (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient in men 0.1054 (2023)
- Three metrics of inequality 60.86 (2017)
- Gini coefficient (before tax) 0.6086 (2017)
- Total shortfall from extreme poverty 3.36 million international-$ in 2021 prices (2021)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people living in extreme poverty in Taiwan?
- Number of people living in extreme poverty in Taiwan was 23.46 million people in 2021, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in Taiwan?
- The highest recorded value was 23.57 million people in 2019.
- What is the lowest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in Taiwan?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.01 million people in 1981.
- How does Taiwan rank for number of people living in extreme poverty?
- Taiwan ranks 40th out of 120 countries with data for 2021.
- Is number of people living in extreme poverty rising or falling in Taiwan?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Taiwan data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people living in extreme poverty. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
Number of people living in households with an income or consumption above $3 per day.