Poverty in Asia Nonetheless, the history of the Asian economy shows quite clearly that economic growth is a key driver of poverty reduction. In the past 50 years, extreme poverty has significantly decreased in Asia. Here, I refer to the World Bank's current definition of extreme poverty – living on less than 1.9 U.S. dollars a day.
Looking at selective countries with comparable 5  See Zhuang, J., Kanbur, R., and Maligalig, D. (2014). "Asia's Income Inequalities: Recent Trends," in Kanbur, R., Rhee, C., Zhuang, J. (eds. ), Inequality in Asia and the Pacific: Trends, Drivers, and Policy Implications, pp. 21-36. Oxon: ADB and Routledge. 6  See Škare, M., and Pržiklas Družeta, R. (2016).