Rural poor at risk in 2022

This report section analyzes the growth of the rural poor population lacking access to cooling across 54 high-impact countries in 2022, highlighting the role of the COVID-19 pandemic in increasing extreme poverty despite improvements in electricity access.

• In 2022, the rural poor population across 54 high-impact countries grew by 3.9 million, reaching a total of 370.8 million people. This increase was primarily driven by the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which outweighed the benefits of declining electricity access gaps.
• The rural population living on less than USD 1.90 per day in the 54 high-impact countries rose by 10 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels and by over 2 percent since 2020. Globally, the World Bank estimates the pandemic pushed 97 million more people into extreme poverty, totaling 711 million, with 478 million in Sub-Saharan Africa and over 140 million in South Asia.
• India, Nigeria, and Bangladesh have the highest absolute numbers of rural poor at risk. India's rural poor population increased by 5.2 million. Since 2018, the largest proportional increases occurred in Argentina (82%), Pakistan (21.8%), and Iraq (20.9%), while Bolivia (-46.5%) and Indonesia (-42.3%) saw the most significant reductions.
• Africa hosts half of the global rural poor population, with eight of the top 10 countries most affected located there. In Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique, and Somalia, more than 75% of rural dwellers are at high risk due to lack of cooling access.
• In Asia and the Middle East, the rural poor at risk increased by 4.3 million in the last year, with India hosting 133.3 million rural poor (36% of the global total). In Latin America and the Caribbean, the rural poor population declined by an average of 6% across six high-impact countries, with Brazil accounting for 82% of the region's rural poor (3.6 million).

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (2022). Rural poor at risk in 2022. https://www.seforall.org/chilling-prospects-2022/rural-poor-at-risk

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. Rural poor at risk in 2022. 2022. https://www.seforall.org/chilling-prospects-2022/rural-poor-at-risk.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=Rural poor at risk in 2022 |date=2022 |url=https://www.seforall.org/chilling-prospects-2022/rural-poor-at-risk |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforall2022rural, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{Rural poor at risk in 2022}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2022}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/chilling-prospects-2022/rural-poor-at-risk}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }