Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day in Canada
Canada: Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day was 9.1% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day in Canada, 1971–2022
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Canada recorded 9.1% for poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day in 2022.
That represents a change of up 21.3% on the previous year and down 38.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day in Canada peaked at 51.7% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 5.9%, in 2020.
That places Canada 111th out of 120 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 46 years of available data.
Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day in Canada, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 51.7% | — |
| 1973 | 42.1% | -18.6% |
| 1975 | 34.1% | -19.0% |
| 1977 | 30.8% | -9.7% |
| 1979 | 28.2% | -8.4% |
| 1981 | 24.7% | -12.4% |
| 1982 | 25.6% | +3.6% |
| 1984 | 25.9% | +1.2% |
| 1985 | 24.2% | -6.6% |
| 1986 | 23.3% | -3.7% |
| 1987 | 22.2% | -4.7% |
| 1988 | 20.7% | -6.8% |
| 1989 | 19.5% | -5.8% |
| 1990 | 20.3% | +4.1% |
| 1991 | 22.7% | +11.8% |
| 1992 | 22.0% | -3.1% |
| 1993 | 23.7% | +7.7% |
| 1994 | 22.0% | -7.2% |
| 1995 | 22.7% | +3.2% |
| 1996 | 26.3% | +15.9% |
| 1997 | 26.0% | -1.1% |
| 1998 | 24.0% | -7.7% |
| 1999 | 22.6% | -5.8% |
| 2000 | 21.2% | -6.2% |
| 2001 | 20.2% | -4.7% |
| 2002 | 20.0% | -1.0% |
| 2003 | 20.3% | +1.5% |
| 2004 | 19.2% | -5.4% |
| 2005 | 18.0% | -6.2% |
| 2006 | 17.3% | -3.9% |
| 2007 | 15.2% | -12.1% |
| 2008 | 15.4% | +1.3% |
| 2009 | 15.0% | -2.6% |
| 2010 | 14.8% | -1.3% |
| 2011 | 13.5% | -8.8% |
| 2012 | 14.8% | +9.6% |
| 2013 | 14.7% | -0.7% |
| 2014 | 13.6% | -7.5% |
| 2015 | 13.8% | +1.5% |
| 2016 | 12.8% | -7.2% |
| 2017 | 12.1% | -5.5% |
| 2018 | 10.9% | -9.9% |
| 2019 | 10.2% | -6.4% |
| 2020 | 5.9% | -42.2% |
| 2021 | 7.5% | +27.1% |
| 2022 | 9.1% | +21.3% |
Canada compared with similar countries
- Canada's 9.1% is below the median for high income countries, which is 19.3%, 47% of the median. (42 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day in Canada changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | -42.2% | 10.2% | 5.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 37.4% | 28.2% | 51.7% | 5 |
| 1980s | 23.3% | 19.5% | 25.9% | 8 |
| 1990s | 23.2% | 20.3% | 26.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 18.2% | 15.0% | 21.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 13.1% | 10.2% | 14.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.5% | 5.9% | 9.1% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Canada
More poverty & inequality data for Canada
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 7 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.35 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 3,695 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -9.41 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 34.78 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 34.8% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day in Canada?
- Poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day in Canada was 9.1% in 2022, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day recorded in Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 51.7% in 1971.
- What is the lowest poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.9% in 2020.
- How does Canada rank for poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day?
- Canada ranks 111th out of 120 countries with data for 2022.
- Is poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is down 38.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Canada 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 Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 46 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 $30 per day.