East Asia has exhibited the most dramatic reduction, slashing its USD 1.25 a day poverty rate from 77% of its population in 1981 to 14% in 2008. In South Asia, the proportion of the population living in extreme poverty is now the lowest it has been since 1981, falling from 61 to 36% between 1981 and 2008. Strong economic performance of countries such as China and India has also resulted in more poor people living in middie-income countries than in low-income countries.