Economy · Africa ranking
Poverty Rate ($3.65/day) by African country
Democratic Republic of the Congo has the highest share of the population below $3.65 a day of any African country, at 92.5%, ahead of Mozambique and South Sudan.
Share of the population living on less than $3.65 a day at 2017 international prices (lower-middle-income line). 51 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2020.
Latest available year varies by country (2011–2024); each row shows its year, and values more than 5 years behind the most recent are marked ⚠.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mozambique
South SudanBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Poverty Rate ($3.65/day) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 92.5% | |
| 2 | Mozambique | 89.1% | |
| 3 | South Sudan | 88% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 4 | Malawi | 87.3% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 5 | Burundi | 87.2% | |
| 6 | Central African Republic | 83.9% | |
| 7 | Madagascar | 83.9% | |
| 8 | Zambia | 81.4% | |
| 9 | Niger | 79.7% | |
| 10 | Uganda | 76.3% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 11 | Tanzania | 70% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 12 | Kenya | 65.5% | |
| 13 | Sierra Leone | 65% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 14 | Burkina Faso | 64.6% | |
| 15 | Zimbabwe | 64.6% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 16 | Nigeria | 64% | |
| 17 | Ethiopia | 63.7% | |
| 18 | Rwanda | 62.2% | |
| 19 | Guinea-Bissau | 62.1% | |
| 20 | Chad | 61.4% | |
| 21 | Mali | 59.5% | |
| 22 | Eswatini | 58.3% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 23 | Lesotho | 56.8% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 24 | Ghana | 56.3% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 25 | Togo | 55.6% | |
| 26 | Liberia | 55% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 27 | Republic of the Congo | 55% ⚠ ’11 | |
| 28 | Angola | 53.7% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 29 | Benin | 50% | |
| 30 | Djibouti | 43.7% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 31 | Cote d'Ivoire | 41.6% | |
| 32 | Cameroon | 41.3% | |
| 33 | Gambia | 40.2% | |
| 34 | Senegal | 37.3% | |
| 35 | Botswana | 35.8% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 36 | Namibia | 35% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 37 | Sao Tome and Principe | 30.5% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 38 | South Africa | 30.2% | |
| 39 | Cabo Verde | 29.7% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 40 | Guinea | 29.2% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 41 | Mauritania | 26% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 42 | Sudan | 26% ⚠ ’14 | |
| 43 | Equatorial Guinea | 21.5% | |
| 44 | Comoros | 18% | |
| 45 | Morocco | 11.6% ⚠ ’13 | |
| 46 | Gabon | 8% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 47 | Egypt | 7.1% | |
| 48 | Algeria | 4.7% ⚠ ’11 | |
| 49 | Tunisia | 2.4% | |
| 50 | Mauritius | 2.3% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 51 | Seychelles | 1.4% ⚠ ’18 |
Malawi
Burundi
Central African Republic
Madagascar
Zambia
Niger
Uganda
Tanzania
Kenya
Sierra Leone
Burkina Faso
Zimbabwe
Nigeria
Ethiopia
Rwanda
Guinea-Bissau
Chad
Mali
Eswatini
Lesotho
Ghana
Togo
Liberia
Republic of the Congo
Angola
Benin
Djibouti
Cote d'Ivoire
Cameroon
Gambia
Senegal
Botswana
Namibia
Sao Tome and Principe
South Africa
Cabo Verde
Guinea
Mauritania
Sudan
Equatorial Guinea
Comoros
Morocco
Gabon
Egypt
Algeria
Tunisia
Mauritius
SeychellesGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Poverty Rate ($3.65/day) figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=poverty_headcount_365_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2020. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
Embed this ranking
Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).
Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest share of the population below $3.65 a day?
Democratic Republic of the Congo has the highest share of the population below $3.65 a day in Africa at 92.5% (2020), followed by Mozambique and South Sudan.
Which African country has the lowest share of the population below $3.65 a day?
Seychelles has the lowest share of the population below $3.65 a day of the 51 African countries with data, at 1.4% (2018).
How many African countries report Poverty Rate ($3.65/day) data?
51 of 54 African countries have a Poverty Rate ($3.65/day) figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries, here 2011–2024). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=poverty_headcount_365_pct&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
More economy rankings