The percentage of people living in extreme poverty around the world has fallen by more than half over the past three decades (via Dina Pomeranz). According to a recent study, a significant majority of respondents from several countries are unaware of this achievement. I wasn't aware either!
On a side note, Oxfam is on the news again with their report on wealth inequality. Oxfam's method is quite questionable and there are lots of articles out on the web criticizing it. Last year, Tim Harford addressed this issue in his podcast More or Less (brilliant podcast, btw). You can listen to this explanation in this 10 minute-audio.
ps. the shortcomings of Oxfam's estimates do not imply we face low levels of global inequality, but they do distort the numbers in a way that attracts lots of headlines.
