The next section assesses progress made on each of the targets with sufficient data. North Africa has made the most progress in reducing poverty globally: between 1990 and 2012, poverty rates declined by some 70 per cent. Africa (excluding North Africa), on the other hand, continues to face significant challenges in this regard and has the highest poverty rates in the world, with rates of more than 40 per cent in 2012 and 2013,' second only to Oceania (see FIGURE 2.3).