for example although south asia has seen a significant decrease in the poverty rate from per cent in to per cent in given the increase in population size this means that the absolute number of the poor increased from million to million over that period figure ii in subsaharan africa the absolute number of the poor increased from million to million in the same period while the poverty rate fell from per cent in to per cent in whereas in poverty had been concentrated in east asia and the pacific with per cent of the worlds poor living in that region by the concentration of poverty had shifted to south asia and subsaharan africa which now account for per cent and per cent respectively of the world s poor