'THE BEST STORY IN THE WORLD TODAY' : The Astounding, Breathtaking Drop In Global Poverty...Global Poverty Will Hit New Low This Year, World Bank Says "This is the best story in the world today."

 Headshot of Lydia O'Connor Lydia O'Connor Associate News Editor, The Huffington Post Posted: 10/04/2015 08:03 PM EDT 

Less than 10 percent of the world's population will be living in extreme poverty by the end of 2015, the World Bank forecast on Sunday. 

The Washington-based institution's latest projections expect the number of people who survive on $1.90 a day to drop from 12.8 percent of the human population in 2012 to 9.6 percent this year. That means 702 million people still struggle to survive.

But that's a stunning decline from the numbers reported over the last 25 years. According to the World Bank, 37.1 percent of the world's population lived in extreme poverty in 1990. In 2015, that number is estimated to drop to 9.6 percent.

Source: World Bank

"This is the best story in the world today -- these projections show us that we are the first generation in human history that can end extreme poverty," World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a press release. "This new forecast of poverty falling into the single digits should give us new momentum and help us focus even more clearly on the most effective strategies to end extreme poverty."

Eradicating poverty by 2030 -- a goal set by the United Nations and non-governmental organizations around the world -- hasn't suddenly become easy, Kim warned.

"It will be extraordinarily hard, especially in a period of slower global growth, volatile financial markets, conflicts, high youth unemployment, and the growing impact of climate change," he said. "But it remains within our grasp, as long as our high aspirations are matched by country-led plans that help the still millions of people living in extreme poverty." more