ADB : 1.85 bln people in Asia-Pacific live on less than 2 USD a day

MANILA, Tuesday (AFP) - Although poverty is slowly being reduced in Asia-Pacific an estimated 1.85 billion people or 57 percent of the region's population still lived on less than two dollars a day in 2003, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Tuesday.

The number of people living in extreme poverty - less than one dollar a day - was estimated at 621 million or 19.3 percent of the population, down from 688 million in 2002, the Manila-based organisation said in a report.

"Much of the regions overall success in recent years is the result of a dramatic reduction in poverty in the PRC (People's Republic of China)," it said.

The new poverty estimates are contained in the ADBs Key Indicators 2005, an annual statistical compendium of economic, financial, and social indicators.

The data is based on 2003 figures which the ADB says is the most recent year for which sufficient data is available to formulate estimates.

"Although Asian governments are making significant progress in the fight against poverty the latest data clearly shows reducing poverty remains a central challenge facing the region," the ADB's chief economist Ifzal Ali said in a statement.

The report said that despite the impressive region-wide reduction in poverty, large disparities still remain among countries.

About 93 percent of the 621 million people living on less than a dollar a day in 2003 lived in India (327 million), China (173 million), and other South Asian countries (77 million), the report said.

"Although the percentage of South Asias population living under extreme poverty declined to 29 percent in 2003 from 41.3 percent in 1990, relatively rapid population growth in South Asia meant the number of extremely poor fell by only about 45 million," the ADB said.