Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in United Kingdom
United Kingdom: Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median was 5.6% in 2021. ▲ Rising
Latest (2021)
5.6%
Change on year
up 5.7%
World rank
64th
of 120 countries
All-time high
7.3%
in 1992
All-time low
1.2%
in 1968
Years of data
54
1968–2021
Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in United Kingdom, 1968–2021
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2021, relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in United Kingdom stood at 5.6%.
That represents a change of up 5.7% on the previous year and up 14.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in United Kingdom peaked at 7.3% in 1992 and was at its lowest, 1.2%, in 1968.
That places United Kingdom 64th out of 120 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 54 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in United Kingdom, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 1.2% | — |
| 1969 | 1.8% | +50.0% |
| 1970 | 1.7% | -5.6% |
| 1971 | 2.0% | +17.6% |
| 1972 | 2.9% | +45.0% |
| 1973 | 2.2% | -24.1% |
| 1974 | 2.7% | +22.7% |
| 1975 | 2.5% | -7.4% |
| 1976 | 2.0% | -20.0% |
| 1977 | 2.1% | +5.0% |
| 1978 | 2.4% | +14.3% |
| 1979 | 2.2% | -8.3% |
| 1980 | 2.7% | +22.7% |
| 1981 | 3.0% | +11.1% |
| 1982 | 2.9% | -3.3% |
| 1983 | 2.7% | -6.9% |
| 1984 | 3.4% | +25.9% |
| 1985 | 3.5% | +2.9% |
| 1986 | 3.7% | +5.7% |
| 1987 | 4.2% | +13.5% |
| 1988 | 5.0% | +19.0% |
| 1989 | 5.8% | +16.0% |
| 1990 | 6.4% | +10.3% |
| 1991 | 6.8% | +6.2% |
| 1992 | 7.3% | +7.4% |
| 1993 | 7.1% | -2.7% |
| 1994 | 6.6% | -7.0% |
| 1995 | 6.6% | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 6.7% | +1.5% |
| 1997 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 7.0% | +4.5% |
| 1999 | 6.8% | -2.9% |
| 2000 | 6.6% | -2.9% |
| 2001 | 6.1% | -7.6% |
| 2002 | 6.2% | +1.6% |
| 2003 | 6.1% | -1.6% |
| 2004 | 5.5% | -9.8% |
| 2005 | 6.2% | +12.7% |
| 2006 | 6.3% | +1.6% |
| 2007 | 6.8% | +7.9% |
| 2008 | 6.3% | -7.4% |
| 2009 | 5.8% | -7.9% |
| 2010 | 5.0% | -13.8% |
| 2011 | 4.9% | -2.0% |
| 2012 | 5.0% | +2.0% |
| 2013 | 4.7% | -6.0% |
| 2014 | 5.2% | +10.6% |
| 2015 | 5.5% | +5.8% |
| 2016 | 6.0% | +9.1% |
| 2017 | 6.4% | +6.7% |
| 2018 | 6.3% | -1.6% |
| 2019 | 7.0% | +11.1% |
| 2020 | 5.3% | -24.3% |
| 2021 | 5.6% | +5.7% |
United Kingdom compared with similar countries
- United Kingdom's 5.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 6.5%, 86% of the median. (42 countries reporting)
- United Kingdom's 5.6% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 5.6%, 1.0× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.5% | 1.2% | 1.8% | 2 |
| 1970s | 2.3% | 1.7% | 2.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.7% | 2.7% | 5.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.8% | 6.4% | 7.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.2% | 5.5% | 6.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.6% | 4.7% | 7.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.4% | 5.3% | 5.6% | 2 |
Countries ranked near United Kingdom
More poverty & inequality data for United Kingdom
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 6 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 1.56 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 7,138 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 -7.54 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 34.91 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 34.9% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in United Kingdom?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in United Kingdom was 5.6% in 2021, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median recorded in United Kingdom?
- The highest recorded value was 7.3% in 1992.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median recorded in United Kingdom?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.2% in 1968.
- How does United Kingdom rank for relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median?
- United Kingdom ranks 64th out of 120 countries with data for 2021.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median rising or falling in United Kingdom?
- Over the last ten years it is up 14.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United Kingdom 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 Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 54 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 40% of the median.