Furthermore, of the 1.2 billion who lifted themselves out of extreme poverty, 1.1 billion were from Asia and the Pacific. Countries of the population living in extreme poverty such as Pakistan (from 64.7 per cent to 12.7 per cent), Cambodia (from 44.5 per cent to 10.1 per cent), Azerbaijan (from 25 per cent to only 0.3 per cent) and Thailand (from 11.6 per cent to only 0.3 per cent), have all reported significant decreases in the percentage of their populations living in extreme poverty. Although international poverty lines exist, there are no agreed international standards on how to measure poverty at the national level. As poverty measurement is essentially about wealth distribution, the more disaggregated are the data available about individuals and small groups within a population, the greater will be the value of the information that can be derived from analyses of poverty. Such measurements and policy measures are of relevance in Asia and the Pacific, especially in view of the steadily falling overall poverty rates now occurring despite the existence of persistent pockets of poverty. Indeed, to that end those Indian states already having statistical capability conduct state-level censuses on those living below the poverty line.