Share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index in Australia
Australia: Share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index was 0.9% in 2020. ▼ Falling
Share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index in Australia, 1981–2020
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index in Australia stood at 0.9%.
That represents a change of up 50.0% on the previous year and up 80.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index in Australia peaked at 1.1% in 1981 and was at its lowest, 0.5%, in 2008.
Australia ranks 68th of 120 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 13 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1.0% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 3 |
| 1990s | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.8% | 0.5% | 1.1% | 4 |
| 2010s | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 4 |
| 2020s | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More poverty & inequality data for Australia
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 3 surveys (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.64 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 2,690 kg per hectare (2024)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 30.4% (2022)
- Gender Inequality Index 0.056 (2023)
- Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty 21.6% (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient in men 0.0807 (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient by sex 0.0712 (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient in women 0.0712 (2023)
- Income inequality: Atkinson index 0.1849 (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index in Australia?
- Share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index in Australia was 0.9% in 2020, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 1.1% in 1981.
- What is the lowest share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5% in 2008.
- How does Australia rank for share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index?
- Australia ranks 68th out of 120 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 80.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia 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 Share in extreme poverty vs. poverty gap index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below $3 per day.