Economy · Africa ranking
Poverty Rate ($6.85/day) by African country
Democratic Republic of the Congo has the highest share of the population below $6.85 a day of any African country, at 98%, ahead of South Sudan and Burundi.
Share of the population living on less than $6.85 a day at 2017 international prices (upper-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
South Sudan
BurundiBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Poverty Rate ($6.85/day) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 98% | |
| 2 | South Sudan | 97.6% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 3 | Burundi | 97.4% | |
| 4 | Malawi | 97.1% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 5 | Madagascar | 96.6% | |
| 6 | Mozambique | 96.3% | |
| 7 | Central African Republic | 96.1% | |
| 8 | Niger | 96.1% | |
| 9 | Zambia | 94% | |
| 10 | Uganda | 93.6% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 11 | Ethiopia | 93.5% | |
| 12 | Nigeria | 92.9% | |
| 13 | Sierra Leone | 91.5% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 14 | Tanzania | 91.5% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 15 | Guinea-Bissau | 91.4% | |
| 16 | Burkina Faso | 90.4% | |
| 17 | Kenya | 90.1% | |
| 18 | Rwanda | 89.8% | |
| 19 | Chad | 89.5% | |
| 20 | Mali | 88.6% | |
| 21 | Liberia | 88.3% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 22 | Togo | 87% | |
| 23 | Benin | 86.5% | |
| 24 | Zimbabwe | 86.2% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 25 | Ghana | 85.4% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 26 | Lesotho | 83.8% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 27 | Republic of the Congo | 82.4% ⚠ ’11 | |
| 28 | Cote d'Ivoire | 80.9% | |
| 29 | Djibouti | 80.8% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 30 | Angola | 80% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 31 | Eswatini | 79.3% ⚠ ’16 | |
| 32 | Senegal | 78.6% | |
| 33 | Gambia | 78.2% | |
| 34 | Guinea | 76.6% ⚠ ’18 | |
| 35 | Cameroon | 74% | |
| 36 | Sudan | 73.2% ⚠ ’14 | |
| 37 | Mauritania | 71.2% ⚠ ’19 | |
| 38 | Sao Tome and Principe | 70% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 39 | Comoros | 68.2% | |
| 40 | Cabo Verde | 65% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 41 | Botswana | 63.2% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 42 | Namibia | 61.1% ⚠ ’15 | |
| 43 | South Africa | 59.6% | |
| 44 | Egypt | 58.5% | |
| 45 | Equatorial Guinea | 58.1% | |
| 46 | Morocco | 49% ⚠ ’13 | |
| 47 | Algeria | 41.8% ⚠ ’11 | |
| 48 | Gabon | 32.9% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 49 | Tunisia | 20.7% | |
| 50 | Mauritius | 19.1% ⚠ ’17 | |
| 51 | Seychelles | 8.4% ⚠ ’18 |
Malawi
Madagascar
Mozambique
Central African Republic
Niger
Zambia
Uganda
Ethiopia
Nigeria
Sierra Leone
Tanzania
Guinea-Bissau
Burkina Faso
Kenya
Rwanda
Chad
Mali
Liberia
Togo
Benin
Zimbabwe
Ghana
Lesotho
Republic of the Congo
Cote d'Ivoire
Djibouti
Angola
Eswatini
Senegal
Gambia
Guinea
Cameroon
Sudan
Mauritania
Sao Tome and Principe
Comoros
Cabo Verde
Botswana
Namibia
South Africa
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Morocco
Algeria
Gabon
Tunisia
Mauritius
SeychellesGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Poverty Rate ($6.85/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_685_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.
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Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest share of the population below $6.85 a day?
Democratic Republic of the Congo has the highest share of the population below $6.85 a day in Africa at 98% (2020), followed by South Sudan and Burundi.
Which African country has the lowest share of the population below $6.85 a day?
Seychelles has the lowest share of the population below $6.85 a day of the 51 African countries with data, at 8.4% (2018).
How many African countries report Poverty Rate ($6.85/day) data?
51 of 54 African countries have a Poverty Rate ($6.85/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_685_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.
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